Lookback: FEM FEST 2021 RE#SISTER Workshop

During the whole week of FEM FEST, our RE#Sisters were radicalising the music stage and sound studio of WORM. Especially for the festival, Mariette Groot (RE#SISTER’s founder) invited Vanita and Johana Monk to lead an improvisation workshop. Free improvisation is a vital part of creating new sonic experiences. As Johana said: “a key component to successful improv is listening, taking space and giving space to others. ”  Before the start of the concert, she shared that achieving this symbiosis is quite a difficult process because ego and testosterone get in the way. 

Vulnerability also appears to be of importance, you need to be open to failure. One of the tasks the facilitators gave to the participants was to learn to play a new instrument in a week. That’s a tough cookie even for an experienced musician, especially when there is a performance ahead. 

The RE#SISTER improv concert was as WORMish as it can get! There was something incredibly liberating to see women coming together to make noise in a very methodical, concentrated way. 

I really wished we could have witnessed this section of the programme live because we were not able to feel the vibrations of the sounds through the screen. Or at least I didn’t with my crappy laptop boxes. And I think being together in one space helps the concentration of the viewer to feel in sync with the performers. 

Nevertheless, I think it was utterly important to give the stage to women to jam on their instruments, be joyful and playful! I started to dream of collaborations and experimentations when I was watching.

PARTICIPANTS:
Linhuei Chen, Lucija Gregov, Ginger Haasbroek, Tisa Neža Herlec, Suzana Laşcu, Johana Molina and Marty Ydema.

Story by Nia Konstantinova
Photos by Berksun Doganer