Introduction

The fourth edition of the transdisciplinary Seanaps Festival will take place from October 15-18, 2020 in Leipzig. The festival sees itself as an homage to life and its sounds, as a vibrant mixtape for curious ears, created in interaction with a global experimental music scene – an intense moment of collective listening. It is conceived as an interface between music, sound art and the living environment – presented, explored and discussed through different formats.

In four days of performances, concerts, sound installations and listening walks, the festival will bring audio art to the west of Leipzig. A program with discussion panels and presentations will reflect upon artistic research on a cultural-political level. All program positions will be taken up and expanded by the live festival radio program, which will broadcast all Seanaps events via digital platforms.

The Discourse Program

This year, for the first time, there will be an accompanying programme under the name Seanaps Discourse which addresses issues in the fields between art, culture and politics.

The festival sees itself as a transformative space for individual and collective forms of creativity, education and networking. The format Seanaps Discourse is dedicated to questions arising from these transformations. An interdisciplinary, critical and discursive exchange among local and international creative artists, cultural consumers, networks and various institutions will allow an exploration of the necessity of a cultural-political awareness and the associated challenges, opportunities and contradictions.

This accompanying discourse programme deals with the tensions between the idealisation and realisation of creative freedom in various formats – such as radio features, panels, lectures, interviews and a film programme – before, during and after the festival.

The Music Program

Each day, from Thursday to Sunday, three musical positions will be presented in Lindenfels Westflügel. All performances reflect the characteristics of the venue acoustically and atmospherically. The Westflügel is a production centre for international puppet theatre, and was formerly both a ballroom and a factory.

Here, performances can be heard whose means range from prepared record players, unique playing styles on classical orchestral instruments, the human voice, vibrating objects, acoustic shadows to modified sound generators. The forms of expression are cross-genre and extend from free improvisation to compositions of new music.

The Radiolab

As in the 2019 kick-off, this year will also include a temporary radio station as a laboratory for contemporary radio. As a platform and space to present acoustic art forms, Radiolab provides a playground for contemporary radio practice and experimental radio formats. In addition, the radio will accompany the events of the festival, providing insights into its background and into the working methods of the invited artists and their positions. This year's music programme will also be broadcast live on the festival radio, making it accessible to the audience not present at the festival.

The Radiolab will broadcast online via the stream of the radio collective Sphere Radio, Leipzig. The program will also be available on FM by networking with the independent radio stations and cooperatives Radio Blau, Leipzig, Radio CORAX, Halle/Saale and Cashmere Radio, Berlin. The radio programme will be documented and archived through the online platforms of Sphere Radio and Seanaps Festival.