Gwendolyn Lootens & Saif Al Qaissy — situ­a­ti­on 0012 — یدق acti­va­ti­on of moving moment 0056

In an audio­vi­su­al live per­for­man­ce, visu­al artist Gwendolyn Lootens and musi­cian Saif Al Qaissy com­ment the con­ti­nuous dis­pla­ce­ment of peo­p­le all over the world.

Practical
➤ Saturday 17 May
➤ 14:00
➤ Duration: 20 minu­tes
➤ Location: M Leuven (room: Forum), Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 28

Cevdet Erek — çepe­çer­çe­ve

çepe­çer­çe­ve, by Istanbul-based artist and musi­cian Cevdet Erek, is an immersi­ve instal­la­ti­on, per­for­man­ce setup, and audio pro­ject whe­re sound, spa­ce, and move­ment come together. The tit­le — a made-up com­pound word in Turkish — com­bi­nes two expres­si­ons to sug­gest being ​“com­ple­te­ly sur­roun­ded” or ​“all-encom­pas­sing.” This idea lies at the heart of the work: a sen­so­ry envi­ron­ment whe­re sound and struc­tu­re enve­lop the visi­tor, and hybrid forms emer­ge through over­lap­ping func­ti­ons and inten­ti­ons.

Erek works with uncon­ven­ti­o­nal per­cus­si­on instru­ments — some of which he desig­ned in col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with instru­ment maker and daf play­er Sami Khosseini — inclu­ding the Derisiz Def (Daf wit­hout skin), Derisiz Cetvel Def (Ruler Daf wit­hout skin), and Halkalı Stadyum (Stadium with rings). These instru­ments gene­ra­te undu­la­ting sound tex­tu­res and tre­mu­lous rhythms that rip­ple through the spa­ce, sur­roun­ding the audien­ce. Some even invi­te indi­vi­du­als — or small groups of two or three — to step insi­de the instru­ments them­sel­ves, cre­a­ting a shif­ting, inti­ma­te rela­ti­ons­hip bet­ween listener/​viewer, instru­ment, and per­for­mer. The work encou­ra­ges visi­tors to beco­me awa­re of their own pre­sen­ce in the spa­ce, of others around them, and of the lay­e­red events unfol­ding. Erek also explo­res how the­se expe­rien­ces might con­ti­nue beyond the phy­si­cal set­ting, through headp­ho­ne-based lis­te­ning — par­ti­cu­lar­ly via the albums in cir­cu­la­ti­on and çepe­çer­çe­ve.

For the first time, cer­tain ele­ments and vari­a­ti­ons of the çepe­çer­çe­ve series are being instal­led in a muse­um gal­lery and per­for­med by an expand­ed ensem­ble of Belgian per­cus­si­o­nists. This rare occa­si­on dee­pens the work’s explo­ra­ti­on of the rela­ti­ons­hip bet­ween body, sound, and archi­tec­tu­re, invi­ting visi­tors into a medi­ta­ti­ve sta­te whe­re abstract, repe­ti­ti­ve struc­tu­res gra­du­al­ly blur the boun­da­ries bet­ween time, rhythm, and spa­ce.

Performers: Isaac Kobena Bethru, Zia De Mesmaeker, Cevdet Erek, Anastasia Tarasova, Jalel Van Goethem, Eline Willems & Jo Zanders
Thanks to neu­ger­riem­schnei­der, Berlin for the fol­lo­wing loans:

Daf wit­hout Skin, Cevdet Erek, 2021
Ruler Daf wit­hout Skin, Cevdet Erek, 2021
Daf wit­hout Skin II, Cevdet Erek, 2023
Ruler Daf wit­hout Skin II, Cevdet Erek, 2023
Larger Daf wit­hout Skin, Cevdet Erek, 2023
Stadium with Rings, Cevdet Erek, 2023
Eastern Daf, Cevdet Erek, 2023

Praktisch
➤ Vrijdag 16 mei
➤ 16:00
➤ Duur: 40 minu­ten
➤ Locatie: M Leuven (zaal: 1.H), Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 28

Nazanin Noori — OF THE ECHO OFF

Nazanin Noori is a German-Iranian mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­na­ry artist who uses sound, text, and ima­ge to explo­re the­mes such as grief, pro­test, dias­po­ra, and col­lec­ti­ve emo­ti­on. Her instal­la­ti­on EVERY SORROW EVERY END exa­mi­nes the cycli­cal natu­re of sor­row and clo­su­re. The work explo­res how per­so­nal and socie­tal pro­ces­ses of mourning evol­ve, fade, and re-emer­ge.

The per­for­man­ce OF THE ECHO OFF focu­ses on the after­math of pro­test and the lin­ge­ring ​‘echo’ of soci­al unrest. The tit­le sug­gests a silen­ce after the storm — the moment when sound
fades but the impact remains pal­pa­ble. Noori inves­ti­ga­tes how phy­si­cal and emo­ti­o­nal dis­tan­ce from poli­ti­cal events is expe­rien­ced, and how sound (or its absen­ce) can sym­bo­li­cally reflect pre­sen­ce, enga­ge­ment, or alie­na­ti­on.

Both works demon­stra­te Noori’s abi­li­ty to cre­a­te reflec­ti­ve, sen­so­ry expe­rien­ces through sound and spa­ce — invi­ting both intro­spec­ti­on and cri­ti­cal soci­al reflection. 

Co-com­mis­si­o­ned and pro­du­ced by Auto Italia London and M Leuven
Special thanks to the Videographer Etritanë Emini, the Vocalists Rupert Enticknap and Samin Ghorbani

Practical
➤ Saturday 17 May
➤ 16:00
➤ Duration per­for­man­ce: 40 minu­tes
➤ Location: M Leuven (room: PLATFORM), Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 28

De Zwerm: com­po­si­ti­ons by Stijn Dickel & Karen Willems

Composers Stijn Dickel and Karen Willems turn the gar­den and hal­l­ways of M Leuven into a musi­cal playground with a wire­less loud­spea­ker orchestra.

Practical
➤ Saturday 17 May
➤ 17:00
➤ Duration: 40 minu­tes
➤ Location: M Leuven (room: Lobby)
➤ A pro­duc­ti­on by aifoon vzw

Anouk Kellner & guests: Nils Vermeulen & Clara Cozzolino

Sound artist Anouk Kellner acti­va­tes her organ instal­la­ti­on in the monu­men­tal KADOC cha­pel and invi­tes two guests for an acous­tic improvisation.

Practical
➤ Saturday 17 May
➤ 18:00
➤ Duration: 40 minu­tes
➤ Location: KADOC (Kapel), Vlamingenstraat 39

Leila Bordreuil

The under­ground queen of cel­lo brings her rug­ged noi­se and whist­ling feed­back to STUK.

Practical
➤ Saturday 17 May
➤ 20:00
➤ Duration: 30 minu­tes
➤ Location: STUK Soetezaal

Partners
In col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with Sound In Motion

ØKSE

International super­group of sax play­er Mette Rasmussen and drum­mer Savannah Harris uni­tes turn­ta­blism, free jazz and groovy funk.

Practical
➤ Saturday 17 May
➤ 21:00
➤ Duration: 60 minu­tes
➤ Location: STUK Soetezaal

Partners
In col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with Sound In Motion

Brahim Tall – Choir of Dissonance

During his resi­d­en­cy in M Leuven Brahim Tall focu­sed on stra­te­gies to trans­form the view of the black body. This resul­ted in a sound instal­la­ti­on whe­re voi­ces blend into a spa­ce-fil­ling, vibra­ting pre­sen­ce — balan­cing bet­ween har­mo­ny, dis­so­nan­ce and chaos.

Practical
➤ Friday 16 May, Saturday 17 May
➤ Continuous
➤ Location: M Leuven (room: 1B)

Nazanin Noori — EVERY SORROW EVERY END / A HOLLOW SONG SUSPENDED

Nazanin Noori is a German-Iranian mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­na­ry artist who uses sound, text, and ima­ge to explo­re the­mes such as grief, pro­test, dias­po­ra, and col­lec­ti­ve emo­ti­on. Her instal­la­ti­on EVERY SORROW EVERY END exa­mi­nes the cycli­cal natu­re of sor­row and clo­su­re. The work explo­res how per­so­nal and socie­tal pro­ces­ses of mourning evol­ve, fade, and re-emer­ge.

The per­for­man­ce OF THE ECHO OFF focu­ses on the after­math of pro­test and the lin­ge­ring ​‘echo’ of soci­al unrest. The tit­le sug­gests a silen­ce after the storm — the moment when sound
fades but the impact remains pal­pa­ble. Noori inves­ti­ga­tes how phy­si­cal and emo­ti­o­nal dis­tan­ce from poli­ti­cal events is expe­rien­ced, and how sound (or its absen­ce) can sym­bo­li­cally reflect pre­sen­ce, enga­ge­ment, or alie­na­ti­on.

Both works demon­stra­te Noori’s abi­li­ty to cre­a­te reflec­ti­ve, sen­so­ry expe­rien­ces through sound and spa­ce — invi­ting both intro­spec­ti­on and cri­ti­cal soci­al reflection. 

Co-com­mis­si­o­ned and pro­du­ced by Auto Italia London and M Leuven
Special thanks to the Videographer Etritanë Emini, the Vocalists Rupert Enticknap and Samin Ghorbani

Practical
➤ Friday 16 May, Saturday 17 May
➤ con­ti­nuous
➤ Location: M Leuven (room: PLATFORM), Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 28
➤ EVERY SORROW EVERY END / A HOLLOW SONG SUSPENDED’ is co-com­mis­si­o­ned and pro­du­ced by Auto Italia South East and Hear Here Live (STUK & M Leuven).