Full Program for Unsound-produced Ephemera Festival in Warsaw Announced

From the creators of Unsound, the multi-arts Ephemera Festival takes place in Warsaw from June 5th - 9th. Celebrating the approaching summer solstice, it’s time to release the full program, exploring music, dance, performance, food and magic.

New additions include evening shows on Saturday June 8th at the freshly opened auditorium of the Museum of History of Poland. The program includes the pre-premiere of Białowieża, by acclaimed field recordist Chris Watson – perhaps best known as a founding member of Cabaret Voltaire and for his work on BBC documentaries – and Poland’s Izabela Dłużyk, also a field recordist, sightless from birth. Commissioned by TIMES – the Independent Movement for Electronic Scenes – along with Unsound, Atonal, Semibreve and Sonar, this presentation at Ephemera is the first result of a spring residency in the Białowieża Forest. On the same program is songwriter, singer and actress Keeley Forsyth, with a show taking place around the release of her new album The Hollow. Her ensemble includes multi-instrumentalist Matthew Bourne, Ross Downes on electronics, Resina on cello, and projections by video artist Netia Jones. Tickets here.

Having recently released their new album Sanatorium, dreamy Polish duo Coals have also been added to the Friday Pożoga program at Mińska 65 on June 7th, appearing on a lineup with Amnesia Scanner, Chuquimamani-Condori, 2K88, Violent Magic Orchestra and Zaumne. Tickets here.

On June 7th, Mińska 65 will also host Ephemera’s collaboration with Dragana Bar – a Saturday night curated together with Kem collective, which not only features musical performances and DJ sets, but also unique performative interventions. Apart from an all-night long performance of Dance is Ancient by Frédéric Gies and Fiedel, and Odete, V will intervene with Divas – a performance where they turn from one monster to another in a wicked rite of passage.

Partnering again with Nowy Teatr, Ephemera will also co-present the dance piece Future Tongues/Językiprzyszłościby director and choreographer Ania Nowak. Inspired by the biblical story of the tower of Babel, Future Tongues is a speculation on the future of human communication, and the place of language, speech, touch and physical intimacy. This show is not included in the pass, but anyone with an Ephemera pass or event ticket can receive a discounted price via the Nowy Teatr ticket office. Shows take place on the 6th, 7th and 8th of June.

Ephemera wouldn’t be complete without a collaboration with LETO Gallery. Marcin Dudek will present a one-off performance connected to his exhibition exploring masculinity, violence and subcultural aesthetics, emerging from his own fandom of MKS Cracovia. Taking place in leto on June 6th at 6pm, the performance is free; afterwards, you can go to Widma, with billy woods, GERDA and Julia Plawgo.

Please note, there are only a small number oftickets left for Zmierzch, our opening night on June 5th, which not only features concerts but Feast, an edible installation by Ephemera fairies Pola Sutryk and Pola Salicka. This year they will create rituals and ponds we will all drink from, alongside edible objects, soil structures, fragrant weeds and the fruits of early summer.

As a cathartic closing event of Ephemera, Warsaw artist Dominika Olszowy will lead us in a performative Chochoł Burning – to clean our energies and create spells for the abundance of summer months. This event is free and will take place on the banks of the Vistula River, close to Saska Kępa. Exact details will be shared shortly.

A reminder that throughout Ephemera, passholders receive free entry to the Surrealism. Other Mythologies exhibition in the main hall of the National Museum in Warsaw. The exhibition traces surrealistic tendencies in Polish art over the past century, approaching the unique local movement as part of a diverse, global phenomenon. The exhibition includes a new installation by Dominika Olszowy, so we encourage festival goers to explore her piece before participating in the Ephemera Chochoł burning.

Please also remember to join us on May 17th for the concerts of Ben Frost and Martyna Basta in Niebo – tickets are still available here.

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*TIMES (The Independent Movement for Electronic Scenes) is a cooperation project that gathers 10 festivals for original music and visual arts’ creations. Besides sharing curations (artists and speakers) and TIMES’ original creations, the cooperation aims at working together for a better respect of both people and planet in the music sector. TIMES is a collaboration between Arty Farty/Nuits sonores (FR), Berlin Atonal (DE), Elevate (AT), Insomnia (NO), Le Guess Who? (NL), Semibreve (PT), Reworks (GR), Sónar (ES), Terraforma (IT), Unsound (PL) and our audiovisual partner Creative Broadcast (RO). This cooperation is built on the previous project We are Europe (2014-2020). Co-funded by the European Union.