This past Sunday, the very first edition of FIBER Weekends 2018 came to a dazzling conclusion at OT301.
With three sold-out events, extra-sensory performances and inspiring discussions, FIBER Weekends 2018 turned out to be an experience beyond anything we could have imagined. The new event, initiated as a stepping stone between the bigger international FIBER Festivals, has proved to be both a fruitful year closing and launchpad for next year.
With its theme Sensing Beyond | Beyond Sensing, the programme presented the creation of alternative relationships between human and ‘alien’ entities. It offered a multitude of critical reflections on how to deal with the notion of entanglement and showcased experimental research and performance strategies that reframed our thinking about simulation, artificial intelligence, and consciousness. Offering many gateways to construct a new understanding of our present-day world, it was a fitting end to our year programme Worldbuilding.
FIBER Weekends 2018 kicked off last Friday, 23 November with an opening concert at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. The night saw German audiovisual pioneer Carsten Nicolai unveil his latest Alva Noto project, the mesmerizing and invigorating UNIEQAV,. The performance was bookended by Valery Vermeulen’s mind-expanding lecture-performance about the transformation of gravitational waves and an astonishing live performance by object blue – which you can read all about in DJ Broadcast’s review.
Part 2 of FIBER Weekends 2018 commenced across the city at LAB111 and OT301. Featuring an extensive day of talks the final edition of our Coded Matter(s) series saw a total of 13 speakers address news ways of exploring and understanding entangled systems and strategies to make sense of the world through art and music. Among the speakers where TeZ, Shailoh Phillips, Alan Warburton and Sissel Marie Ton.
Following the opening of Gabey Tjon a Tham’s commissioned work ‘If/Then’ at the 4Bid Gallery, we dug in for a night of physical and immersive performances to experienced the capacities and quirks of our bodies at OT301. Spanning from CAO & Michael Tan’s surreal Dutch debut of The Burial Theme, through a pair of un-human light & sound performances by Vito Willems & Bin Koh and Whitespace & Zois Loumakis, to upsammy and Nkisi’s hypnotic rhythms, the night defied genres, senses and expectations.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us across the two weekends – from the artists and speakers to our fantastic and open-minded audience. FIBER will return in the new year with the next edition of our now biennial festival. But first, we invite you to once again join us at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ on 4 January for our new year’s tradition: the audiovisual new year’s resolution that is FIBER x The Rest is Noise.
Many thanks to our partners
Creative Industry Fund NL, Amsterdam Fund of the Arts, Fonds Podiumkunsten, Goethe Institute NL, KIKK Festival, Lab111, OT301, 4BID Gallery, De Peper, Goys & Birls, Crossing Parallels, TU Delft.