TUNE programme 2023

“To be a living composer today means not being a composer of your time, but being only one small tiny sect, one little cult, in a time when the music of your time is the music of all time.” —Alvin Curran

Artists invited in 2023 include: Ihor Okuniev, Alvin Curran, Standing on the Corner, Lifetones, Charles Bullen, Phew, Nina, Still House Plants, Exotic Sin, Dawuna, keiyaA, Katalin Ladik, and Duma.

TUNE is a series of short sound residencies at Haus der Kunst, and is located between the realms of sound, music, and visual art. The invited artists move across genres, eras, and influences, and generate sonic responses and exchanges with the wider programming at Haus der Kunst.

The TUNE programme for 2023 begins with music that is radically free, pushing the boundaries of improvisation, and which questions who it is for and how it is created. Space is made for a heightened group experience, and what Alvin Curran describes as “plain musical vulcanism,” often in reaction to the political and social context in which it is made. Curran’s work will form an echo to that of Joan Jonas, a longtime creative collaborator, with a shared passion for spontaneity, and non-linear structures and assemblages.

Through post-punk, dub, metal, free jazz, and experimental electronics, the line between composition and improvisation in the unfolding programme becomes blurred. Raw emotions and their expression form a connecting thread, enabled by group dynamics and creative intuition, and artists work collectively. The voice and direct expression becomes a focus, inspired by the work of Meredith Monk, and it is presented in all its power and vulnerability. Lyricism, neo-blues, soul and R&B guide introspection and intimacy, while the space between the sound and meaning of words is excavated, exposing the primeval and the instinctive. As with the work of Katalin Ladik, instability becomes a generative force creating space that is not static and overly defined, but open and with potential. The body is an instrument, and music is sourced from the depths within.

Alongside the performance programme, an artist is invited to make a new acoustic work to be installed in the Terrassensaal for nine months. The new commission is Land, a sound work by Ukrainian multimedia artist Ihor Okuniev. Working with photography, video, and audio, Okuniev’s practice is inspired by a fascination with his motherland’s nature, customs, and traditions. In Ukrainian culture, the land occupies an important place and is one of its main topics.

Land is a deeply haunting and atmospheric portrayal of the destruction inflicted upon Ukraine since Russia’s invasion. Burned forests, ruins of houses, and destroyed armoured vehicles dissolve into the environment, as the land absorbs the traces of war. Since March 1, 2022, Okuniev has dedicated himself to a volunteer organisation that travels to different regions of Ukraine to deliver essential items and help people rebuild their houses, witnessing the shattering devastation first-hand.

TUNE is curated by Sarah Miles

Artists and dates of the first half year:

Ihor Okuniev, Land—Commission for the Terrassensaal
August, 2022—April, 2023

Alvin Curran
January 20, 2023, 8pm
Performance: Alvin Curran, Shofar Rags XXXL
January, 21, 5pm and 7pm
Screening: When There is No More Music to Write, and Other Roman Stories by Éric Baudelaire
Performance: Alvin Curran, Endangered Species
Artist talk: Alvin Curran and Éric Baudelaire

Standing on the Corner
February 24, 2023, 8pm
Performance: Standing on the Corner
February 25, 2023, 6pm and 8pm
Artist talk: Gio Escobar and Sarah Miles
Performance: Standing on the Corner

Lifetones, Charles Bullen
March 18, 2023 , 8pm
Performance: Lifetones
March 19, 2023, 6pm and 7pm
Artist talk: Charles Bullen and Sarah Miles
Performance: Charles Bullen solo

Phew, Nina
April 21, 2023, 8pm and 9pm
DJ-Set: Nina
Performance: Phew 
April 22, 2023, 6pm and 8pm
Artist talk: Phew and Sarah Miles
Performance: Phew 

Still House Plants, Exotic Sin
May 25, 2023, 8pm and 9pm
Performance: Still House Plants
Performance: Exotic Sin
May 26, 2023, 7pm and 8:30pm
Artist talk: Members of Still House Plants and Exotic Sin and Sarah Miles
Performance: Still House Plants

For parts of Tune in 2023 Haus der Kunst will collaborate with Bourse de Commerce. From Paris to Munich, the two institutions will unveil joint musical projects, confronting different generations of artistic avant-garde, and weaving links between contemporary art and music. The Lifetones residency in March is the first of these collaborations.