Text by CLOT Magazine
MIRA Festival returns to Barcelona from 5 to 9 November 2019. One of the strongest and most exciting newcomers to the new wave of festivals in the city after the rule of Sónar and Primavera Sound, MIRA are celebrating their 9th edition with a mouthwatering line-up for those who enjoy a more forward-thinking sound and visual arts type of festival. The festival will take place around different spaces in the Catalan capital, with its main site being the venue Fabra i Coats, an old textile factory located in the northeastern part of the city.
For this new edition, and aligning with the current social upheavals, the team wants to explore the importance of art and technology as instruments of protest, as tools for converting thought into action, to reshape our future and demand transformation by encouraging change as individuals. Hand by hand with the new graphic campaign- created by Snoop Agency- which revolves around the concept of Destruction¤Genesis, posing an existential debate and questioning the paradigms of an environment that appears to be sentenced to destruction.
Experimental composer Tristan Perich will open the festival with his new collaboration with renowned pianist Vicky Chow Surface Image, presenting a reinterpretation of his 1-Bit Symphony 2004 (the first album ever released as a microchip). While noise and experimental Iranian musician Sote will do the honours on Wednesday, presenting his acclaimed Sacred Horror In Design along with Arash Bolouri and Behrouz Pashahei, and Tarik Barri.
On Thursday, 7, there’ll be a series of talks and presentations around matters of the contemporary art world and digital culture. These will include AUDINT collective (formed by Kode9, Eleni Ikoniadou and Toby Hey) that will present their anthology on sound and sonic perceptions, Matteo Zamagni will screen his film Horror Vacui, the round table Computational Invisible Control reflecting on the possibilities and alternatives of digital art and a talk by Fara Peluso, presenting her work based on the interconnection between art, design and science.
The 360 dome screenings are always a forte of the festival, with design studio Metahaven’s Elektra, Robert Lippok’s collaboration with visual artists Pedro Gutierrez Non-face and digital artist Sandrine Deumier and composer Myriam Bleau Realness, winners of the MIRA x Hangar Open Call among the highlights.
On the installations side, we wouldn’t miss the ones by AUDINT and Carlos Sáez. ELISAVA, the Barcelona School of Design, will also present an installation that takes the form of a visual/architectural labyrinth reflecting on and denouncing life’s relentless rhythm and pace in large urban environments.
And a few highlights of the rest of the line-up include a number of artists all presenting new AV shows: Floating Points alongside long-time collaborators and Barcelona-based Hamill Industries, ambient legend Biosphere, Roly Porter and MFO, synthscape master Alessandro Cortini and Weirdcore, who will be presenting a commissioned project through which he will create the visual environment for Smerz’ live set. And to finish with an act on our soft spot, new media artist CLON (Estela Oliva), in collaboration with electronic music producer NWRMNTC (Ana Quiroga), will be showcasing META, their journey through a simulated world unfolding in real-time through interconnected utopian/dystopian scenarios.
Returning to the Destruction¤Genesis theme, MIRA questions whether we are ending our existence or, on the contrary, are we moving towards a new genesis? A matter of free interpretation that contextualises this edition and which they will attempt to respond to during the days of the festival, seeing as music and art do not cease to be a reflection of our present.
