Of all the “nice round numbers,” fifteen is the nicest and roundest. It’s got 5; it’s got a 1. Heck, it’s even got a zero, if you feel like putting one of those in front of it! For example, this year, the “015th” edition of Krakòw, Poland’s tremendous Unsound festival takes place October 8-15. And to commemorate this auspicious quinceañera, the organizers have announced that they will “invite a cast of artists closely connected to its history” — alongside less established but equally-pioneering experimenters — to perform works in line with the festival’s 2017 theme of “Flower Power.” We now know who exactly some of these movers and shakers will be, and festival passes have recently been made available for purchase here.
In fact, the preliminary line-up reads like a “bands to namedrop when pretending you actively follow TMT” list. Pharmakon and Gas (Wolfgang Voigt) are both set to make an appearance, and so are German industrial legends Einstürzende Neubauten (as part of their so-called “greatest hits” tour). Other acts named include Jlin (whose first show outside of the U.S. was actually at Unsound 2015), DJ Sprinkles, Sweden’s SHAPE-affiliated artist VARG, Visible Cloaks, and NIVHEK: a minimalist project by Grouper’s Liz Harris and MFO, inspired by their residency in the Russian Arctic and co-commissioned by Unsound, Goethe-Institut, and The Barbican, London.
“What does all this have to do with flowers,” you ask? Well, according to the organizers, “FLOWER POWER is an exploration of counter-culture forged in opposition to dominant forces. It is in part a nod to the 50th anniversary of 1967 and the Summer of Love […] as well as dark, chaotic cross-currents of that era that now seem to crash over us again.” Very appropriately, the theme explores protest and hedonism, oppression and resistance, and utopian and dystopian sensibilities (okay, that sounds more like Unsound).
Head over to the festival’s website to learn more about its conceptual underpinnings and the artists scheduled to perform. Also, to help you gear up for this autumn’s Summer of Love Redux, check out our review of Gas’ excellent comeback album Narkopop and Pharmakon’s latest video below:
More about: Einstürzende Neubauten, Gas, Pharmakon
