Roaring 2021 July & August 2021
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ZOMERSLAG
JUL>SEP C-MINE.BE GENK
ontwerp: Bureau BoschBerg
PODIUM SPEL BAR BOS 4
editor’s note p 9 agenda p 11 Different Class p 14 Mattias De Craene p 22 Oriana Ikomo p 30 Deborah Bowmann p 38 sub_missions p 60 Subba faces p 7
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HEEL DE ZOMER LANG HET BOS X ONDER STROOM
> 27 JUNI BLACK FLOWER SHOKO IGARASHI & CASMIR LIBERSKI DJ ALDOLINO
> 8 AUGUSTUS KRAAK LABEL
> 11 JULI SNOBS HAPPENING
> 25 JUNI RIKKY ROZAY GIJS LUIE LOUIS CHIBI ICHIGO DJ MI MI
> 22 AUGUSTUS ????????? > 5 SEPTEMBER ?????????
STROOMPLEIN - TAVERNIERKAAI 11 2000 ANTWERPEN
Editor’s note
Roaring 2021 A century ago we would have been in the midst of les Années Folles, a time of healthy economic growth, expansive liberal values and – most importantly – a spurt in experimental and creative efforts in the field of art. Also known as the Jazz Age, this music played a significant part in wider cultural changes during this period. It was the heyday of ragtime, cabaret dancing, Josephine Baker and women's suffrage. There was the birth of café society, as the bars in Paris, New York and London became magnets for artists, writers and other ‘bright young things’. The 1920s saw the birth of surrealism, the avant-garde and everything associated with modernity and a break with tradition. On the streets, you could see the Garçonne or flapper and the Gibson girls: independent, feminist, strong, modern, pleasure-seeking, crazy young women who flaunted their disdain for 'acceptable’ social behaviors. Although this was 100 years ago, in our heads we now have entered the Flappers’ Future, so let’s dive into it. No time to waste in the Golden Twenties. Thank you, Julien (first of all!), Milena, Laura, Kasper-Jan, Mats, Meg, Gabriela, Chloé, Dries, Mayli, Anna, Cathérine, Eline, Sepideh, Mattias, Oriana & the team of Deborah Bowman! Your editor-in-chief, Herlinde 7
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Overview
Music
until Jacques Moeschal 21.07 Botanique, Brussels
03.07 Overlast: Patches + until Fin-de-Siècle Museum 31.07 Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels Glasshelder + more OLT Rivierenhof, Antwerp until Home Stories 31.07 Design Museum Gent, Ghent 09.07 Bebe Books: Lyra Pramuk + Daisy Darkpark until Memymom – Home Game DOK (Democrazy), Ghent 01.08 Botanique, Brussels 10.07 Champion Sound Beat until Vincent Geyskens Battle + ECHT! 31.08 M Leuven, Leuven OLT Rivierenhof, Antwerp until Shilpa Gupta – Today Will 11.07 Strobo: SNOBS 12.09 End M HKA, Antwerp Het Bos (Onder Stroom), Antwerp
Film
17.07 Proeftuin: gone icon + ssaliva + more DOK (Democrazy), Ghent MUBI 18.07 Martin Kohlstedt OLT Rivierenhof, Antwerp 07.08
Different Class ft. Oriana Ikomo + Mattias De Craene + Bby Eco + Vica Pacheco + more KASK, Ghent
Expo until Elise Peroi 11.07
Discounts Go shop at Paard Van Troje, Consouling, Art Paper Editions, Hunting and Collecting, Bison 4, Veals & Geeks & Tipi Bookshop and receive a 10% member discount (online or instore).
Botanique, Brussels
until See, think, paint – A 18.07 conversation with Roger Raveel Roger Raveel Museum, Machelen
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As a Subbacultcha member, you can enjoy three months of MUBI entirely free. MUBI is a curated online cinema where you can discover the world’s greatest films.
s for free You can see all show p. Want to hi with your members k at our plans join too? Have a loo subbacultcha.be/join da or Go to our online agenletter to subscribe to our news on new receive all the updates events.
LES NUITS 2021 08.09 > 26.09
09.09 JOZEF VAN WISSEM 12.09 NOANNAOS NIGHT: ASHLEY MORGAN & FRIENDS 17.09 TIMOTHÉE JOLY - QUINZEQUINZE 18.09 LARYSSA KIM’S ONEIRONAUTS 19.09 DAVID NUMWAMI - SAINT DX 21.09 DE AMBASSADE 22.09 FRÀNÇOIS AND THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS FRANÇOIZ BREUT - CHARLÈNE DARLING 23.09 LALA &CE - BONNIE BANANE - JOANNA 23.09 SKY H1 & MARGARITA MAXIMOVA (AV SHOW) 24.09 FÉLICIA ATKINSON 26.09 SMERZ
BOTANIQUE.BE 10
Subbacultcha Belgium presents
O7. kask
Ghent
O8 . 2021
Different Class 07 August – KASK, Ghent
Subba’s hitting the double digits this year. It’s been an adventurous ride – sometimes fueled with uncertainties – but we’re still here and vibing strong. Ten years of music, interviews, films and exhibitions. A decade of friendship, bonding and thirsting for witnessing breathtaking shows together. A few wrinkles here and there, but fuck that – we’re not done yet. So you know the drill, summer’s here and Different Class is around the corner. The tenth (!) edition of our festival gathering trailblazing acts and members over a few pintjes, sun, arts and music.
The roster this year includes:
Oriana Ikomo, the Ghentbased golden voice who delivers a mix of jazz, R&B and soul with a zest of electronics. Mattias De Craene, our local Dirty Beaches explores the side of minimalist soundscapes at the tip of his saxophone. Bby Eco, hailing from Amsterdam and producing earth-conscious tracks, or as he describes it: Earth-pop. Don’t know wtf that is? Come and find out! Vica Pacheco, a Mexican star based in Brussels, who – for a moment – will take you into a mystical world rocked by multiple layers of sound bites, electronic beats and ethereal vocals.
Hold steady ‘cause there’s more to come!
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You can see this show for free with your membership. Want to join too? Have a look at our plans subbacultcha.be/join Go to our online agenda or subscribe to our newsletter to receive all the updates on new events.
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Music
Mattias De Craene As the saxophonist for jazz-rock outfit Nordmann, tribal-electronica trio MDC III and Sylvie Kreusch’s art-pop band, Mattias De Craene is perpetually metamorphosing. But now it’s now time to slow down, and to turn the gaze inward. Under his solo moniker, De Craene released a first collection of cosmic ambient meanderings last year, and there’s more to come. We discuss his creative process, artistic evolution and his influences as a solo artist in the light of his show at Different Class.
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Interview by Dries Robbe, photos by Mayli Sterkendries, shot in Ghent
In April last year you released your first EP as a solo saxophonist. What’s happened since then, as a solo musician? The lockdown period led me to an intense period of self-reflection and evaluation. I decided pretty early on to get into my home studio with just my saxophone and my computer, which resulted in a double LP, soon to be released on W.E.R.F. Records in November. Does it sound different from your EP? The main approach for this record was the use of sounds purely originating from my saxophone, which resulted in more than an hour of fairly filmic, mystical music that incorporates compositions, soundscapes and other sonic explorations. Bringing all of this together, the album sounds very suggestive, evoking a lot of atmospheres and images. There’s a clear difference in sound when comparing your bands to your solo work. How did that happen? To me, making music is very personal; it’s about how I feel 16
and how I function. Therefore, my solo work can be seen as research and introspection, and obviously not as a clear result of a plan of something I wanted to create. Making this music with only a saxophone is really challenging, and obliges me to play with the limitations of the instrument. It gives me freedom, and lets me push myself to another level. Furthermore, at this moment, it’s important to me to improve myself by coping with these limitations and to be alone – in the strict sense of the word. Over the years, you’ve created a distinctive language on the sax. What were the key moments in this evolution? Band members, friends, parents… they all played a role in this. I started as a classical, avant-guardian, minimalist musician, then got into the jazz scene and eventually ended up in the pop and rock scenes. During all of these periods, I picked up important tastes and experiences. Playing alone again now, I feel like the little kid I was when I played the saxophone for
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where you can focus well and open your mind, then grab whatever drink you like!
I’d like an imp to describe th charact rovised trip w e live sound a er ith an e s xperim ‘gentle disson a ental d istinctivnce’, as e filmic
the first time: vulnerable and searching. It feels like a full circle. Why the saxophone? It’s always been my medium, my tool to express myself. It brought me to a lot of beautiful places and keeps on challenging me, over and over. How will you perform live? I’ll be improvising with just my saxophone and my computer. It won’t be a live translation of the record; performing live is a totally different thing to me. I’d like to describe the live sound as ‘gentle dissonance’, as an improvised trip with an experimental, distinctive, filmic character. Improvising is important to me; it’s what I stand for as a musician. No compromises: just take it or leave it.
Last question: where and with what drink do we have to listen to Mattias De Craene? There are obviously different possibilities, depending on the listener. Let’s say: a dark place 20
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MATTIAS DE CRAENE 07 August - Different Class, KASK, Ghent @mattias-de-craene
Music
Oriana Ikomo Musician and performer Oriana Mangala Ikomo visualises her sound and shares dreams on the phone with friends to give life to her art. Fed by a musicality anchored in neo-soul, experimental electronics and jazz, her collaborative projects square the circle between James Blake, Erykah Badu, ambient and her classical training. We had a long chat about empathy, inclusive music and art as a form of self-reliance.
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Interview by Anna Lancry, photos by Catherine Lemblé, shot in Ghent
Hi Oriana. How should we introduce you? I sing and play piano, but I like to present myself more as a performer overall; I integrate a lot of mediums into my music. I like to visualise things, make things that are aesthetically beautiful – according to what is aesthetically beautiful to me. Is there anything you want to convey through your work? Music is therapy. All my songs – especially ‘You’ – are written in an emotional moment; it comes
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naturally, I dive into it and afterwards feel much better. It’s a release when I sing or play piano, I can say what I want to say that I don’t necessarily feel like saying to people. So music is a form of self-reliance? Does that tie in with the role that emotion plays in your practice? Over the last few years I’ve worked hard to develop the self-love and self-reliant strength that I realised I could depend on no one else for.
Next to this, emotion is the biggest thing I want to create and convey. Why? Because if it’s not there, your music doesn’t come across. Empathy is so important. It may be naïve or idealistic of me, but I believe if people were more empathetic the world would be a much more beautiful place.
I don’t want to make ‘d ifficult ’ music
You talked about other mediums. Do you have an affinity with other art forms? When I was younger, I dabbled a lot. I did ballet like many little girls, but I understood quite quickly that this world was not for me. The teacher made me feel like I was too big, too black, too whatever; she called me out in front of the class. But I also did a lot of jazz dance and there I could improvise, let go of everything. I like that improv aspect in everything: in live performance I never interpret songs the same way twice or I would be bored to death. I also played music, I painted. I’m an analogue photographer too, and fashion has always been 25 25
somewhere in my life. As a child I dreamed of becoming a stylist. That all plays into what you’re doing now... Indeed, my ideal would be to combine all the mediums I love and create something beautiful with it. Actually, my milieu forms my music. The starting point is always me alone behind my piano, but then I bring it out to other people to do something with it, we collaborate and then the music starts to live for me. For instance, for ‘You’, I had this idea of the music being visual. I had a dream in which I was in a room and
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there were people standing statically everywhere around me and staring into a camera. It was sinister and very beautiful. I called my friend Lena, who ended up directing the video, we brainstormed, and suddenly the idea for the music video was there. Do you often use your dreams for inspiration? I use my dreams more for aesthetics than anything else. I dream often and intensely so I like to integrate them into my visuals and music for wavy, atmospheric elements. Any non-musical influences? All my friends. I look around me and feel so happy to be surrounded by such beautiful people who make me feel safe and inspired. It feels almost too good to be true that I’ve reached this point because it was a lifelong process to get here. My biological family also inspires me a lot. We have a lot of history and trauma; every time I create something, I want my family to understand and feel it. I don’t want to alienate or exclude them, or to make ‘difficult’ music that only people in certain 28
elitist artistic circles can relate to. Have you seen or experienced something or someone that moved you recently? Stef Van Looveren; their personality, their work and what they stand for. I spent such a wonderful time working on set for their project, Adagio. It reminded me of why I love being an artist. What changes would you like to see around you this year? I would like to see people minding their own business more. I’m still trying to accept myself as I am, but I would also like to change people’s minds about things. It’s important for people underrepresented or misrepresented in certain areas – black people, women, trans people, (I hate this word) ‘plus-sized’ people – to be assertive and take the spot yourself. I take the opportunity of using my medium, my desire to create something beautiful, and open that representation with it. I’m just a tiny piece in a big puzzle, but it’s part of what drives me.
29 ORIANA IKOMO 07 August - Different Class, KASK, Ghent @iambadgalriri__
Art
On blending culture and commerce, private and public
Deborah Bowmann
Both an exhibition space and an artist duo, Deborah Bowmann is not easy to categorise. Founding artists Amaury Daurel and Victor Delestre reinforce this hybrid character by playing with the distinctions between culture and commodity, private and public. We sat down with the Brussels-based duo to talk about shop displays, music and the future of Deborah Bowmann.
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Interview by Eline Cremers, photos by Sepideh Farvardin, shot in Brussels
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How would you describe Deborah Bowmann? Amaury: The idea of Deborah Bowmann is to create a hybrid project that is both an artistic identity and a space, and to play with what it could mean to be an artist and what it could mean to be a space. The Roaring Twenties was a time of cultural prosperity. How do you see Deborah Bowmann flourishing in the 2020s? A: The future of Deborah Bowmann is linked to a big decision we took, which is that we’re going to close our physical space. The whole idea is that we are not more a space than an artist. Before becoming too much ‘just’ a space, we need to close it and do more things abroad to rebalance. It was also a time of mass consumerism. Your work seems to blur the distinctions between culture and commodity or commerce. Is this meant as a critique? Victor: It’s an open critique. A: You could look at it 33
in a more political way, but it’s more an artistic challenge to play with things that we actually don’t like so much and that we try to make fun or interesting for us. Our work has a lot to do with things that we don’t like so much. How did you decide to work together? V: We were in the same art school in Bordeaux and started playing music together in a band called France Frites, which still exists and is based in Brussels. Then, we did several collaborations together. Since Deborah Bowmann can be seen as a shop, I was wondering if you ever worked in retail? V: After my studies, I was a – I don’t know the word in English – when you put articles on the shelves of a big supermarket at night. [Editor’s note: a shelf stacker] A: The main thing we were
has k r o w Our to do with a lot s that we thing like so don’t much
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Everywhere we go, we are interested in shop displays interested in were the shop displays. Our work has a lot to do with the hierarchy between two objects. We wanted to play with this in the frame of a space that could play with the identity of the space itself: is it a shop or is it a gallery? Everywhere we go, we are interested in shop displays. V: Displays in general, actually. When you go to a domestic place, you see the way the objects are arranged: the way the picture of someone goes on top of a table, how there are flowers on the side. This culture of arranging things – no matter if it’s in the public or private sphere – is something very interesting to us. On your website you sell works as ‘products’. Do you have a favourite one? V: Maybe the lemon cake. I really like it because I like it as a cake. A: I quite like the ties on the 36
@deborahbowmann
website. They really make you wonder if someone could wear them or if they are supposed to hang on the wall like a sculpture or painting. It’s not the most beautiful object in the selection or the one we sold the most, but it has a lot to do with the idea of playing with a business character. You mentioned your band. Is music something you incorporate in Deborah Bowmann? A: Not with our band, but we’ve done a lot of shows with soundtracks. We thought it was fun to always have music in the space like in a shop. Do you feel as if you can show more personality in your music? A: It’s not more personality; it’s just another personality. We all have a lot of personalities. That’s why we wanted to work under the name Deborah Bowmann.
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Chloë Nuñez-Garcia @chloenunezgarcia_art Antwerp
‘Femmes en couleur’
Gui Dash @gui.dash Brussels
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‘L’Homme à la pipe’
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Julie Pittevils @pittevils_com Antwerp
‘go for it’
Anthony Ngoya @ndessabekaanthony Brussels 41
‘Between two seas’
Manon De Bruyn @manon.debruyn Antwerp
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‘Krioelen’
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Linde Stevens @linde_stevens_ Brussels
‘Kayla’
Nick Moons @nickmoonsmoons Ghent 44
‘Dassen zonder jassen’
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Katrien Orlans @prettycoolstufff Bruges
‘Cielo Drive’
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Seppe Dyck @seppedyck Antwerp
‘Untitled’
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Astrid Vandendael @astrid_vandendael Ghent
‘Kamperen’
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Denisa Teglas @dentheeglas Antwerp
‘Vise intortocheate’
Sven Goewie @svengoewie Antwerp
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‘In a world less square 65*24 - 1440 seconds’
Valerie De Backer @valerie.debacker Ghent 50
‘Parhelia’
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Sander Mortier @mort.sander Gent
Untitled
DESINGEL is een kunstinstelling van de Vlaamse Overheid
DEAR ANTWERP
ZA 24 - ZO 25 SEP 2021
mediasponsors
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Pieter Dirix @nnrmnlg Linter
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‘(over)denkcirkels’
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Mathieu V. Staelens @mathieuvstaelens_artist Antwerp
‘The enhancement effort #3’
AL GAL INKIJK IN HET UNIVERSUM VAN GAL
12-06-21 / 22-08-21 CULTUURCENTRUM MECHELEN
V.u. Heidi De Nijn voor AGB MAC, Grote Markt 21, 2800 Mechelen
GAL_poster_A2_2.indd 1
26/04/2021 11:19
Natasha Pirard @tashapirard Ghent 57
The monochrome mountain range – from the series ‘diamond feedback’
Triënnale voor actuele kunst 26 juni — 24 oktober 2021 paradisekortrijk.be
Violet Braeckman @violetbraeckman Antwerp/Wetteren/ Amsterdam
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‘Short Wood’ Short Wood is a performance/film/music/arts festival full of work by young artists from all art schools in Belgium and Holland, set in my house and garden in Wetteren. It takes place on August 27-28. @shortwoodfestival
Subba faces
Paulien Jans
Age almost 24 Zodiac sign cancer Instagram @paulienjans_ Subbacultcha member since a couple of months
Tell us, what do you do in life? After finishing a master’s in fine arts I was longing to broaden my knowledge, so I studied another master’s in textile design. Through textiles (mainly embroidery and weaving) I look for a representation and construction of identity. Analysing the perception of femininity, sexuality, love, relationships and psychological tension created by the imbalanced society. My work is an embodiment of personal narratives, relationships, experiences and emotions. What do you like best about your place? I live in an amazing apartment in the heart of Ghent which we were very lucky to find. When I look out of the windows I see Sint-Baafs Cathedral, and I think I’ll never get tired of this view. The place is very spacious and I have a little atelier upstairs. What kind of music are you listening to at the moment? A good mix of techno, house, disco and ’90s/’00s hits. What’s your favourite pastime? Cooking candle-lit-dinners for my boyfriend or friends, drinking and dancing with friends, thrift shopping vintage designs for my home and visiting a museum. What makes you dance? I’m very introverted, so I guess a couple of cocktails and friends that I feel comfortable with. What did you miss the most over the past year? Though I very much enjoyed the stillness and the absence of social pressure in the past year, like everyone else, I’ve missed parties and hugging people. Going to cafes and being able to walk outside at night without a face mask and feeling like a criminal. I’ve missed life. Which future Subbacultcha show are you looking forward to? I still have to go to Roger Raveel at BOZAR, so I’m definitely going soon. Besides that, I’m looking forward to all the upcoming concerts and performances!
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COVER Photo by Catherine Lemblé PRINT
EDITOR IN CHIEF / SALES MANAGER Kasper-Jan Raeman (kasper-jan@subbacultcha.be)
EDITOR IN CHIEF / CONTENT MANAGER Herlinde Raeman
COMMUNITY MANAGER Mats Van Eccelpoel
EDITORS Milena Maenhaut, Laura-Andréa Callewaert & Julien Van de Casteele
ONLINE COPY EDITOR Gabriela González
COPY EDITORS Megan Roberts DESIGN Chloé D’hauwe PRINTER ZwartopWit Duurzaam Drukwerk PARTNERS Fotoshop Gent, Artists United, Paypro Services, Easypost, ZwartopWit Duurzaam Drukwerk, deSingel, This Is Antwerp, iMAL, Botanique, CC Mechelen, Lumiere, Mu.ZEE, Het Bos, Fritz Kola, C-Mine, Democrazy, BOZAR, Design Museum Ghent, Musée Fin-de-Siècle Museum, M HKA, Centrale for contemporary art, Paradise, Toneelhuis, KVS, KASK, M Leuven, Overlast, Bebe Books, OLT Rivierenhof, Proeftuin, Het Bos & Onder Stroom DISTRIBUTION You’ll find our issues every two months in several local stores also offering member discounts, other pickup points supplied by our distributors, and in the mailboxes of our members. Find an overview at subbacultcha.be. THANKS TO Paard Van Troje, Music Mania, Shelter, La Fille d'O, Consouling Sounds, Mood Recyclestore, Warrecords, Panoply, Riot Vintage, Crevette Records, Tipi Bookshop, Balades Sonores, Art Paper Editions, Riot Vintage, Panoply, Hunting and Collecting, Bison 4, Veals & Geeks, KIOSK Radio & Bilbo OFFICE
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OOIT EEN WARENHUIS, NU Mu.ZEE
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