From the Quarter to the (W)hole: What Lies at the Center of Infinity in the Oceans of the Universe

Boats appear again and again in Afro-diasporic history: as ships of slavery, escape and heavenly transport. Inspired by multi-perspective narratives, this composition tells the story of four people on the run who, as the remnants of a missing ghost ship, drift into unknown areas in a dinghy. Their voices and fates are brought to life by the sounds of the glass armonica, mbira, kora, balafon, a string quintet, percussion and other West African instruments.


The concert evening "From the Quarter to the (W)hole" is a poetic, mysterious story about people on the run and spans a broad spectrum of acoustic, analogue and digital sounds. Acoustic instruments and electronics, spoken and sung text interweave in a partly composed, partly improvised score.


Where are the refugees in time and space, where can they finally be found, the moment the ghost boat disappears without a trace? The moment all the voices resound together, the story condenses into an Afrofuturist vision that goes beyond current depictions of flight.