elshan ghasimi

Jazz & Persian Classical Music + Martychowiec in the Polish Institut

Jazz & Persian Classical Music + Martychowiec in the Polish Institut

Dear friends,

an eventful year is ending - a year that will probably only be surpassed by the ones coming in highs and lows. We can only hope that we Europeans will realise that our time on the "island of the blessed in a sea of ​​storms" is finally a thing of the past. Now is the moment to become aware of our own strength, power and reason.

The synthesis of high cultures - bridges between differences
This guiding principle shapes Bublitz and everyone involved in it. A few weeks ago, as part of the exhibition New Memories, we were able to experience how ten artists dared to take a "poetic approach" to the El Arbi Bouqdib Archive. Now we invite you to discover another fascinating world: a combination of classical Persian music with jazz.

The duo Ghasimi & Wiesemann
The theatre composer and jazz pianist Hajo Wiesemann founded an extraordinary formation with the musician and tar virtuoso Elshan Ghasimi. Their music combines Persian instruments - such as tar, setar, dayere - with the European piano to create a new, expressive harmony in terms of sound aesthetics.

They go far beyond pure improvisation: different musical systems, notations and traditions merge in their new compositions, which combine jazz, Persian classical music and new music to build bridges between cultures.

Berlin premiere on November 29th
The duo Ghasimi & Wiesemann will celebrate its Berlin premiere on November 29th, 2024 at 8 p.m. in the Gärtnerhaus (Richardstr. 34, 12043 Berlin). Tickets are available at the box office (admission from 7:30 p.m.) or can be reserved in advance by calling 0173 84 17 451. Feel cordially invited to experience this special evening with us - and feel free to bring friends with you.

You can find more concerts by Elshan Ghasimi here.

Exhibition "Turning Points"
We would also like to draw your attention to the "Turning Points" exhibition by Michal Martychowiec and Karin Sander, curated by Marta Smolińska. This can be seen until January 3, 2025, in the gallery of the Polish Institute, directly on Berlin's Museum Island. Admission is free.

With best wishes for a peaceful and contemplative pre-Christmas period,
Julian Malte Hatem Schindele

Hajo Wiesemann and Elshan Ghasimi

Biography Hajo Wiesemann

Hajo Wiesemann studied jazz piano at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and the Amsterdam Conservatory. He also studied choral and orchestral conducting for six semesters. He is a pianist, composer, arranger and musical director for theatre and orchestra and composes film music. He has worked for the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, the Deutsches Theater Berlin, the Schauspielhaus Bochum, the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dresden State Theatre, the Heidelberg Theatre and Orchestra, ARTE, WDR and SWR, among others.

He is the pianist of the ‘Geysir Quartet’ and the ‘Essen Jazz Orchestra’, which was nominated for the German Jazz Award in 2023. He composed the music for the award-winning film ‘Die Geschichte einer Familie’ by Karsten Dahlem, starring Anna Maria Mühe. The production ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ by William Shakespeare, for which he composed the music, was nominated for the theatre prize ‘Der Faust’ in 2017 (director: Joanna Praml, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus). The short film ‘Princess’ (director: Karsten Dahlem) was nominated for the Max Ophüls Prize and received numerous awards. With the ‘Essen Jazz Orchestra’ he was awarded the renowned jazz prize ‘Jazz Pott’ in 2019. In the 2023/24 season, he will compose the music for ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Joanna Praml and Dorle Trachternach after William Shakespeare (dir: Joanna Praml) at the Staatstheater Nürnberg.

Michal Martychowiec: Sous les pavés, la plage! (1982)
2024, Aluminium display, 76 x 92 cm, photographic print on aluminium, 35.000 glass crystals

For more information about the series Sous les pavés, la plage!, click here.

Posted by Joseph in News
DUO (Elshan Ghasimi & Philipp Püschel): SCHANAMEH – Berlin Premiere, 15. September 2024

DUO (Elshan Ghasimi & Philipp Püschel): SCHANAMEH – Berlin Premiere, 15. September 2024

Elshan Ghasimi & Philipp Püschel

Dear lovers of living world cultures,

We cordially invite you to another concert at the ‘New Memories’ exhibition. The ‘Book of Kings’, the Shanameh, and thus the most crucial tale in Persian culture, which is rich in stories, takes centre stage. Newly staged, updated and reinterpreted for voice, tar, trumpet and electronics. Join us in looking forward to the Berlin premiere on Sunday, 15 September, at 5 PM. You are welcome to visit the exhibition from 3 PM, linger in the open area, and converse.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Eleonora Frolov and JMH Schindele

BOOK A FREE TICKET HERE

From the Press release (Elshan Ghasimi & Philipp Püschel)

The Shahnameh (engl. ‘Book of Kings’) is one of the most famous works of world literature and tells the history and origins of the Persian-speaking world.

The newly formed duo Elshan Ghasimi & Philipp Püschel are now bringing this epic into the present day and developing a new concert format. Elshan Ghasimi is a composer, singer and virtuoso of the Persian long-necked lute tar. Philipp Püschel is a trumpeter and enhances his instrument with analogue effects and live electronics.

Based on the ‘RADIF’, the classical Persian art music, and inspired by the Shahnameh texts of the author Abū ʾl-Qāsim Firdausī (940-1020), the duo looks at the Eastern tradition from a contemporary perspective and interweaves it with the present.

Through jazz, free improvisation of tar and trumpet, live electronics, and reciting vocals, Ghasimi and Püschel enter into a dialogue across cultures and millennia.

Events

Curator-guided tour and artist talk with sculptor Ben Greber
on Sunday, 24 August 2024 and on Saturday, 21 September 2024, at 4 PM
Book a free ticket here

Finissage of the exhibition "New Memories (El Arbi Bouqdib Archive)"
On Sunday, 5 October, 2024 | 6 - 10 PM
Book a free ticket here

 

How to find us

Please note that the exhibition and performance venue Pumpwerk Berlin (am Pumpwerk 4, 12524 Berlin) is in Grünau. The journey from Alexanderplatz takes around 55 minutes. We therefore recommend that you allow sufficient time for this.

 

Concert Calendar

Take a look at the Elshan Ghasimi concert calendar. Maybe you can also hear her in your city. There are concerts in various German cities in the coming months (Munich, Essen, Hamburg, Magdeburg, etc.).

Concerts

NEW MEMORIES
EL ARBI BOUQDIB ARCHIVE

Artists: Sergey Bratkov, Elshan Ghasimi, Ben Greber, Markus Hoffmann, Michal Martychowiec, Patrick Panetta, Max Schaffer, Stark & Shakupa

 

Curated by Eleonora Frolov and JMH Schindele
Concept and initiative: JMH Schindele

 

Runtime: 18. August – 5. October 2024, Saturday and Sunday, 3 - 8 PM
Address: Pumpwerk Berlin, Am Pumpwerk 4, 12524 Berlin

Key Visual

Key Visual

© Video: Stark & Shakupa, Concerto21 Stiftung
© Photo: El Arbi Bouqdib Archive, Gestaltung Masoud Morgan

Supported by:

Bild Kunst Kulturwerk
Bild Kunst Kulturwerk
Posted by Joseph in News
Invitation „Neue Erinnerungen“ 17.08.2024 + Programm

Invitation „Neue Erinnerungen“ 17.08.2024 + Programm

Neue Erinnerungen Header

Exhibition + Events

NEW MEMORIES

EL ARBI BOUQDIB ARCHIVE

Artists: Sergey Bratkov, Elshan Ghasimi, Ben Greber, Markus Hoffmann, Michal Martychowiec, Patrick Panetta, Max Schaffer, Stark & Shakupa

Curated by Eleonora Frolov and JMH Schindele
Concept and initiative: JMH Schindele

Opening: Sunday, 17. August 2024, 3 - 10 pm
Pumpwerk Berlin, Am Pumpwerk 4, 12524 Berlin

Exhibition: 18. August – 6. October 2024, Saturday and Sunday, 3 - 8 pm

Dear friends of art, culture and memory,

After seven years of preparation, the curators and the EL ARBI BOUQDIB ARCHIVE (EBA) cordially invite you to the opening of the exhibition "NEW MEMORIES". This unique exhibition presents new artworks drawn from the autopoietic archive by nine authors from the visual arts, film, and music. New memories of an unknown hermeticist are created through individual interpretation and artistic realisation.

The El Arbi Bouqdib Archive was launched in 2017 as an inter- and transdisciplinary long-term project. It is based on the estate of the Moroccan mathematician, poet, cyberpunk, numerologist and Koran researcher El Arbi Bouqdib. Bouqdib (*1947, Khouribga - †2016, Bremen) was a multifaceted personality and a fascinating figure of the outsider and hermit. His life and work covered multiple continents, bringing together seemingly opposing concepts like rationality and faith, physics, mathematics and metaphysics. Bouqdib searched for the scientific verification and theory behind his early religious and magical experiences throughout his life. This field of tension, which he carried within himself throughout his life, reflects fundamental conflicts in our civilisation between science and faith/religion.

The multi-author project is dedicated to the multi-perspective interpretation of memories and identities and explores the process of collective narration. This novel biographical approach to the life of El Arbi Bouqdib transcends individual boundaries and achieves universal relevance.

The exhibition includes visual art, music, literature and poetry that deal with Bouqdib's legacy. The outstanding exhibits include the "Elies Miniatures" concert cycle with the album "The Flower and Death", presented as a multi-channel video installation and a live concert on 7 September. This work results from a collaboration between the composer and virtuoso Elshan Ghasimi and the filmmakers Stark & Shakupa and JMH Schindele. In "Mr & Mrs Bouqdib", sculptor Ben Greber sheds light on the relationship between the unlikely couple. In his installation, Ukrainian artist Sergey Bratkov explores the Koranic code, the number 19. Max Schaffer reflects on numerological speculation by approaching numbers in education. Patrick Panetta's new work deals with a book written by Bouqdib and monumentalises it. Further artistic positions by Markus Hoffmann and Michal Martychowiec will be on display in the historic Pumpwerk in Grünau, which is being used as an art and cultural centre for the first time.

Events:

 

Opening
on Saturday, 17 August, from 3 - 8 pm
Book a free ticket here

 

Curator-guided tour with artist talks
On Sunday, 24 August 2024 and on Saturday, 21 September 2024, at 4 pm
Book a free ticket here

 

Concert
Elies Miniatures III - The Flower and Death
Elshan Ghasimi, Stark & Shakupa, JMH Schindele
On Saturday, 7 September 2024, at 7 pm
Book a ticket here

 

Concert
DUO Philipp Püschel and Elshan Ghasimi
On Sunday, 15 September 2024, at 5 pm
Book a free ticket here

 

Finissage
On Sunday, 6 October 2024, from 3 - 6 pm
Book a free ticket here

 

Further information about the programme: https://bublitz.org/en/calendar/

© Photo: El Arbi Bouqdib Archive, Design Masoud Morgan

Supported by:

Bild Kunst Kulturwerk
Bild Kunst Kulturwerk
Posted by Joseph in News