Five artists pushing the boundaries of music at this year's Pop-Kultur Festival
Brave, boundary-pushing music and arts finds a home each year in Berlin at the iconic multi-disciplinary festival Pop-Kultur.
Across three evenings, the spaces of the Kulturbrauerei arts complex – as well as a handful of nightclubs and cinemas nearby - showcase a truly fascinating line-up from across the musical spectrum, bringing the best of Berlin’s vibrant scene alongside contributions from across the globe. This year the likes of Ghanaian rapper Black Sherif, postpunk legends A Certain Ratio, Nigerian singer Yemi Alade and dark wave MC Zebra Katz lead the line-up.
The festival will also celebrate its ten-year journey to becoming one of Europe's most exciting leftfield festivals. Launching at Berghain back in 2015, Pop-Kultur has run on principles of inclusivity, diversity and a unique approach that has pushed its limits every single years: at Pop-Kultur, the artists and their needs take centre stage.
Among this year's commissioned work are performance artists Eray Gülay (aka Ray) and Christina Angelescu (aka Crystal) who are organising the all-style dance battle "MY CIRCLE", from which a jury will select the best performance. Emotional quality takes precedence in the event – the personal stories that the dancers tell are more important than the perfect moves.
Otis Mensah, the Berlin-based multidisciplinary artist - and the first poet laureate of their home city Sheffield - has developed an immersive live performance of new works and reimagined renditions of their album Winterskin specially for Pop-Kultur. Using aesthetic poetic devices and avant-garde cadence, his performance will weave together unconventional texture and dissonant harmony with ballad-like emotion and delve into the significance of dreaming and artistic expression as a catalyst for utopian designs of personal-political liberation.
The festival’s Nachwuchs programme is aimed at aspiring musicians, and offers over 40 workshops, talks, and lectures (in German and English) to help people take their next steps in music. It connects 150 young talents from all over the world with artists playing the festival’s live programme and other professionals across the fields of economics, politics and music industry. The hands-on workshops and talks provide personal insights into their work and share their experience on how to live and survive in the music business.
The packed programme is ultimately an embarrassment of riches for fans of new and emerging artists – and we’ve taken a look at our highlights from deeper down the line-up to help you navigate three amazing days in Berlin.
EuroEyez
Hamburg-born and raised Yerin Moerbeck grew up with Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears before getting turned onto Korean artists such as JinuSean, YG Family, and Boa, and has even termed the music she makes under the EuroEyez name as “Indie-K-Pop”. Drawing from the experiences as a child of two cultures, her music bridges the gap between Hamburg and Seoul.
Anushka Chkheidze
24-year-old Georgian producer Anushka Chkheidz got her start in music singing in a folk ensemble and her 2020 debut LP places some of the conceptual strands of those years into her visionary, experimental ambient music. Her second album Move 20-21 was created during the 2020 lockdown around the idea that a person can travel and develop mentally while being locked in one place and having no contact with the rest of the world.
Its follow-up – this year’s Clean Clear White - was born from a unique residency at the University of Basel's Biozentrum - and explores a more minimalist approach to the concept of space in electronic music.
Bashar Murad
You might remember Jerusalem-born Palestinian artist Bashar Murad after he was pegged as the favourite to represent Iceland at this year’s Eurovision. Murad didn’t get through but did make it to the last round and was expected to win with his song "Wild West”; he lost by just 3,000 votes out of the 200,000 cast.
The 31-year-old Murad draws inspiration from across the spectrum of pop as well as influences from his Palestinian heritage (he was once called “The Palestinian Lady Gaga). His lyrics - sung in English as well as Arabic - explore LGBTQI rights in the conservative social structures of West Asia and under Israeli occupation – a reality that he doesn’t want to run from, but rather resist, by breaking down stereotypes.
Evija Vēbere
Classically-trained artist Evija Vēbere won the Latvian equivalent of a Grammy with her 2018 debut Sirdsbūt, which explored the otherworldly potential of analogue synths and her whispered vocals. Operating in a conceptual space not a million miles from Björk or Grimes, Vēbere’s avant-pop is informed by improvisation, and delivered with equals does of comfort and unease.
Ilgen-Nur
Berlin-based singer-songwriter Ilgen-Nur has built up quite a reputation and following since dropping her first EP six years back. This will be her third appearance at Pop-Kultur, after creating a specially commissioned work for the festival back in 2019. Her most recent album It’s All Happening marked a turning point in the indie singer-songwriter’s career, coming together after being stranded with friends in Laurel Canyon during the Covid lockdown. The experience has given a new dimension to her music, informed by the classic songwriterly West Coast sounds.
Pop-Kultur runs from 28–30 August. Find out more at pop-kultur.berlin.
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