New East Festival

Exploring contemporary photography from eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia
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About the festival
The New East Festival is a multimedia exhibition sharing groundbreaking work from contemporary artists from across Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. The festival introduces audiences to the vital issues shaping the region today, delving into its rich patchwork of overlapping identities to move beyond homogenous or monotone stereotypes through photography, music, and film.
What is the New East?
The New East is a geographical area that encompasses the former socialist space, including Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Baltics, the Balkans, and Central Asia. Stretching from Brno to Bishkek, the New East is geographically and culturally diverse, spanning vast mountainous vistas and secluded islands to bustling metropolises.

Music Program

Hayk Karoyi
12th May, 9pm

Armenian producer and multi-instrumentalist Hayk Karoyi blends ancient Caucasian musical traditions with earth-shaking electronica and eclectic international influences.
Taking inspiration from his own mixed heritage, Hayk’s experimental tracks evolve and shift to create a bright Mediterranean palette of life and sound: endlessly changing and effortlessly surprising.
Join Hayk inside IDEAL’s immersive art space for a special performance that blends both music and visuals — creating a unique insight into modern Armenian culture.

Siksa
13th May, 9pm

Comprised of singer Alex Freiheit and bassist Buri, SIKSA harnesses distorted bass riffs and burning spoken word to dissect European consciousness and confront the patriarchy.
With its powerful leftist and feminist voice, punk duo SIKSA has shaken the Polish underground scene with its raw message of vulnerability and fierce defiance.
Together, its high-octane wordplay and lightning rod charisma capture the transformative power of art and activism.
So far, SIKSA has played more than 250 shows in Poland and across Europe, at music venues, festivals, squats, and contemporary art galleries. Now, the duo is coming to Spain for the first time for a multimedia performance in IDEAL Barcelona.

Film screenings

New East Shorts

A selection of contemporary short films from the New East shining the light on the life of people of the region. The films will be projected on loop during the day.

One Hundred Years of New East Cinema

A compilation video showcasing the most iconic, important, and interesting films from the region from the 1920s through the 2020s. The video will be projected on loop during the day.

Public talk

Power & Architecture
12th May, 12pm

What effect do architectural structures, designed by one regime and inherited by another, have on the people who live with their legacy? How is public space redefined through external forces such as privatisation and capitalism, or re-used through independent culture and recreation? What is the evolution of the relationship between cities, public space and their citizens? How is architecture used as a tool to re-imagine the society and create new identities in different periods?
  • Jelena Prokopljević (Serbia), architect, researcher, writer, Professor of Urban History at BAC (Barcelona Architecture Center)
  • Daniel Sirvent Perez (Spain), architect, technical architect, Associate Professor of the Department of Architectural Constructions of the University of Alicante,
  • Paweł Starzec (Poland), documentalist, photographer, visual sociologist, PhD candidate at Applied Sociology Department of University of Warsaw

IDEAL Centre d'Arts Digitals de Barcelona

Doctor Trueta 196-198
08005 Poblenou
BARCELONA
MORE INFORMATION:
info@idealbarcelona.com
idealbarcelona.com

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