InstaImprovisations is the main concert programme of this year's edition of the festival. Each day we bring together a duo of artists who have not worked together before and invite them to improvise inside and together with Konrad Smoleński's sound installation EVERYTHING WAS FOREVER UNTIL IT WAS NO MORE. All of them use delays, reverberation and sound processing, which are key elements in Smoleński’s installation, on a daily basis. The first InstaImprovisation will be performed by British saxophonist Cath Roberts and British-Iranian turntablist Mariam Rezaei.
We partnered with MOCAK and the National Centre for Culture to once again use Konrad Smoleński's acclaimed sound installation EVERYTHING WAS FOREVER UNTIL IT WAS NO MORE represented Poland at the Venice Biennial in 2013. We are going to do it in a sustainable manner, guided by the idea of artistic ecology and the restoration of important existing works. Smoleński’s piece consists of two bronze bells, the ringing of which is recorded and processed electronically and then played back through walls of loudspeakers. An important element of the installation is the vibrating floor, which also provides a stage for concerts that interact with the installation. Breaking down stereotypes and expectations, the artist creates a sphere of experience for the invited musicians and audiences. The boundaries between the music stage and the art space are blurred.
Cath Roberts - saxophones
Mariam Rezaei - turntables
Venue: MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art
The concert is supported by the British Council in Poland as part of UK/Poland Season 2025.
8:00 p.m. Battle
Battles are common in hip-hop culture, breakdancing, turntablism and freestyle rap. Like poetry slams, in addition to artistic experiences, the format also brings in emotions characteristic of sports events. We want to test it as part of the Sacrum Profanum festival, which is why we have invited two unique and unconventional improvising duos working at the intersection of different genres. In the left corner, we have Malediwy with Marek Pospieszalski and Qba Janicki. In the other corner, we have Colin Webster and Borja Díaz. Malediwy is a distinctive duo in the improvised music scene, which experiments with different aesthetics. Webster is one of the more eminent saxophonists of the free impro scene, while Díaz perfectly represents Spanish heavy music. Let me just remind you of such groups as Dead Neanderthals or Orthodox, they’ve been involved in. Who is your favourite? Who are you going to root for? Will this duel lead to unexpected outcomes? We will find out soon enough!
Malediwy vs Colin Webster/Borja Díaz
Malediwy:[Podział zawijania tekstu]Marek Pospieszalski – saxophones
Qba Janicki – drums
Colin Webster – saxophones
Borja Díaz – drums
9:30 p.m. Music Research Strategies
Music Research Strategies provide for the collection and critical application of artistic strategies in new social contexts. The programme aims to build competencies in the fields of performance, contemporary art and political education that enable broader and more nuanced intercultural collaboration and public discourse. The Krakow instalment of the project will be launched in collaboration with percussion students of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, under the lead of Dr. Aleksander Wnuk who will join forces with Marshall Trammell to develop an anti-memorial group improvisation ritual around a jointly chosen socio-political theme.
Marshall Trammell is an experimental archivist, drummer, conductor and composer. His aesthetics and activism focus on artistic interventions in social change, while his artistic strategies include improvisation as a tool for building collective change. Trammell also uses the collaborative creation of music and art to move beyond the domain of traditional cultural institutions, putting the act of joint production back into the hands of the community.
Trammell's Music Research Strategies project is a platform for performance and political education furthering social justice, organisational strategies and alternative infrastructure development. The musician is a co-founder of the Black Spirituals duo, and has collaborated with artists such as Raven Chacon, Pauline Oliveros, Aaron Turner, Saul Williams, Hong-Kai Wang and Francis Wong. He has carried out projects for the Darmstadt Summer New Music Courses and the Borealis Festival in Bergen.
Marshall Trammell – Anti-Monumental Music, #2 (Krakow): Performing Anti-Ethnographic Research as Tactical Media in Memorial to… (2025)
Marshall Trammell - drums
Percussion students, led by Dr. Aleksander Wnuk
Venue: KTO Theatre
The concert is co-organised with the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow.
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Accessibility:The first part of the event comprises a jazz-rock-metal concert, the intensity of the music and the volume will be considerable. Hearing protection recommended.
The second part will be less intense, with elements of acoustic improvisation, spatial distribution of instruments, as well as very quiet moments. Spoken word in English may have some difficult or disturbing overtones.
The venue is adapted to the needs of people with mobility difficulties. The building does not offer induction loops or FM systems for the hard of hearing. Assistance is available for people with visual impaiments*. You can enter the building with a support dog and a guide dog.
