This sound-performance listens to the interferences of radio history and colonialism. By sampling recordings of historical radio broadcasts and composing them together with interviews, electronic music, the Gamelan and live trumpet by Thijs van den Geest, meLê yamomo ensounds the repetitive loop of colonialism’s failures into Interferences: Colonial failure on Radio: Live.

With the help of historical radio recordings from Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Asia, artist meLê yamomo examines how the last century of listening to the radio has adjusted our hearing to certain aesthetic and affective listening habits. By removing technical, cultural, and psychological disturbances, an attempt to ensure an ‘unimpeded’–interference-free transmission—is presented. Less noise through better technology, and at the same time drowning out the Indigenous population through programming according to Western European standards? Is that the colonization of hearing? The work is based on the radio play ‘Interferenzen’, which was commissioned by Deutschlandfunk Kultur in 2020.

The performance takes place with the kind support of the Embassy of the Rep. of Indonesia/House of Indonesian Cultures

Concept, artistic and musical direction: meLê yamomo
Additional sound design and engineering: Thijs van den Geest
Featuring interviews with: Elizabeth “Betsy” Enriquez, Teilhard Paradela, Vincent Kuitenbrouwer, and Harry van Biessum
Dramaturgy: Marcus Gammel und Teilhard Paradela
Production: Deutschlandfunk Kultur / Elektronisches Studio der Akademie der Künste Berlin 2020