MBZ x ZEZ Late Night: Aïsha Devi / N/OBE / Meka Drina / Anavi

Through sonic alchemy, Aïsha Devi blends experimental techno and ethereal vocals into a ritual of self-discovery. Devi (Sanskrit for goddess) pushes the boundaries of pop culture through meditation and metaphysical research in which she translates the healing frequencies of sound into performance and visual art. Born in Geneva, of Nepalese-Tibetan descent, she connects different dimensions of her cultural heritage through sound.

The most recent solo album “Death is Home” (2023), a diary of personal history and an examination of identity and trauma, is a synthesis of bass-rich, ritualistic club cyber-ballads. Last year, she recorded the EP “Aethernal Score” with the BBC Concert Orchestra, and the EP “Do the Rite Thing / Hex on Fire“ with Kenyan producer and DJ Slikback, as the duo AKA HEX. She is also the co-founder of the label Danse Noire, an underground community of electronic artists.

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The still unreleased experimental album of producer and DJ N/OBE is the result of many years of research into Yugoslav monuments and their cultural heritage. This past autumn it was presented as a dance performance, while for MBZ 33 it will take the form of a prototype A/V performance in collaboration with visual artist Ivan Lušičić Liik and Vladimir Crvenković.

Monuments explores the importance and decay of six monuments of former Yugoslavia through three time periods: the golden age of the 1970s, when the monuments still bore their original meaning (Tjentište and Nikšić), the war-time 1990s (Ilirska Bistrica and Makedonium), and the present time of New Orientalism, when they become the object of fetishization and unfulfilled future: a monument to themselves, to what they once were (Kosmaj and Podgarić). The album connects the futuristic ideas of Yugoslav modernism with progressive and mutating rhythms of club music and trap, field recordings, and original and bespoke classical and traditional instruments and chants. The sonic textures narratively and dramaturgically align with the logic of modern electronic releases. Meanwhile, the rhythm is based on aksak, with irregular structures typical of Balkan music.

DJ and journalist Meka Drina, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and DJ Anavi from Šibenik, Croatia, will play DJ sets throughout the night. Meka Drina blends bass culture with a dose of internet folklore, while Anavi glides through sonic textures, percussion and pulsating basses, touching on the boundaries of various genres. 

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22:00 Start

23:00 N/OBE: Monuments (A/V)
00:00 Meka Drina
01:00 Aïsha Devi
02:00 Anavi
03:00 Anavi b2b Meka Drina

04:00 End

program collaboration - ZEZ – Institute for Experimental Sound
supported by the Swiss Arts Council – Pro Helvetia