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A place where the projects are encouraged to grow into something long-term. These are the hallmarks for the second free flow festival, taking place at venues across Zurich in Switzerland from June 16-23, 2024.
It’s intended to provoke thought and confront the senses, with events like vernissage (21/6) that air nuanced sounds alongside movement, vocals and music instruments to explore the limitations of language, or the ensemble led by Hasan Nakhleh with traces of the organ from Aleppo to leipzig to cairo, tracing how melodic scales were used, from the church of ancient Syria through Bach’s music to the altered keyboard tunes of 1960s and 70s Cairo (20/6).
free flow looks at the world through a different lens
Begun in 2022, the festival’s ethos is to encourage both participants and audience to “step outside the comfort zones and come together to celebrate without compromise,” according to artistic director Hiromi Gut. The performances are works in progress, she notes, that “could be further developed and be presented in future editions of the festival or in other creative context.” It’s “an open space where everyone is welcome to join and be part of the experience and conversations.”
One of those conversations will be <<schliess die augen nicht - von kröten und alten gespenstern>> #freetalk (20/6), where new western classical music, literature and queer-feminist activism meet, as the duo Lis à Lis (lis marti and lisa läng) perform a Robert Schumann song cycle with new lyrics by läng, changing the sexist role models, a chance for audiences to hear the work in a new context.
On 22/6, the late Zimbabwean mbira player and spiritual leader Stella Chiweshe will be celebrated in transcending legacies as Robert Machiri offers music and a biographical lecture of Chiweshe’s remarkable life and art.
The festival closes on 23/6 with watersheds, a deep listening to recordings made on the soundwalk suburban river sketch (which opens the festival 16/6). It’s a meditation on the way water and sound can flow and stretches its arms wide to embrace music and culture.
The festival “is about embracing a journey of personal and creative growth, away from the pressure to conform and towards what truly resonates with them musically, artistically, and humanly,” Gut says.
This 2024 edition isn’t intended to stand alone. Gut envisions “the free flow festival continuing to evolve and grow, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and fostering meaningful connections and conversations within our community and outside.”
The future is filled with possibilities.
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Details about free flow festival, with a full listing of events and locations can be found at freeflowfestival.ch
