The small Festival
The Programme 9–19 October 2002
Concept and Curation Esther Eppstein
Wednesday, 9 October, 9pm
Ensemble Ajana and Friends
“The Christmas Show”
Zurich singer and performer Ajana Calugar is an activist associated with the squatted and subsequently cleared Cabaret Voltaire and the artists’ house “Platte 32”. The young artist presents a show with relatives and chosen relatives, a family in an energetic, colourful and playful world of music, text, installation and video.
Thursday, 10 October, 9pm
Dan Bitney and Selina Trepp (Chicago)
“spectralina msv – magic, sound and vision”
Performance with live video mix, laptop, drums and two keyboards
Zurich-born artist Selina Trepp caused a sensation in the 1990s with Esther Eppstein under the name Treppstein with their happenings. Selina Trepp has been living in Chicago, USA, since 1998 and creates video art. Together with her partner Dan Bitney, musician and member of the US indie band Tortoise, she creates music and art in Chicago’s creative music and art scene. spectralina msv tells stories from today’s America. The main characters in this collection of stories are Selina and Dan, the loving artist couple in Chicago. A personal inventory, both private and political.
Saturday, 12 October, 9pm
Alexandra Bachzetsis (Brussels)
“perfect”
Dance performance, live sound by Will Holder (Amsterdam)
Eva Keller-Meyer (Berlin)
“Death is Certain”
Performance
Sunday, 13 October, 9pm
Mette Edvardsen, (Brussels)
“Private Collection”
Performance
Alexandra Bachzetsis (Brussels)
“showing”
Dance performance
Zurich dancer Alexandra Bachzetsis has been living in Brussels for some time now, working as an international dancer. She has created two new solos, which she will be performing for the first time in Zurich. The dancer shines with her presence and discipline, and the setting in the art space is consistent. On Saturday, her performance “perfect” will be accompanied live by Amsterdam-based audio artist Will Holder, who is currently staying in Zurich. Alexandra Bachzetsis has invited her friends, the dancers Mette Edvardsen and Eva Keller-Meyer, to join her in presenting their solo projects. This weekend, the message salon will host a gathering of young, experimental performers who are striving to make their own mark in contemporary dance and theatre.
Thursday, 17 October, 9pm
Frances Belser
“F. Belser, a storyteller who likes to sing”
From pop to prose
Zurich-based musician and actress Frances Belser has been performing for twenty years. After several theatre productions in Basel and Paris, she travelled to New York City in 1990, where she embarked on new music and band projects. In 1994, Frances Belser, aka Shebel, released the club hit “Any Love”. This was followed by performances in clubs in New York City and Los Angeles. Frances Belser has been living in Zurich again since 1995, producing music and telling stories. At the message salon, she presents a poetic, personal and political performance about the story of the black sheep. Visuals: Bernhard Kaeser
Saturday, 19 October, 9pm
Karin Müller (Lucerne/Berlin)
“Pop Star vs. Movie Star”
Video and live music
Participating musicians: Oliver Obert, Raffaela Felder, Michael Mathis, Sandra Künzi, Rene Bucher, Ramon Orza, Roland Saum, Davix, Malte Preuss, Christof Steinmann, Joe Stefano, Monika Schori. Video and direction: Karin Müller
At this small festival, video artist Karin Müller presents a revue that brings together music, video and Hollywood. “Pop Star vs. Movie Star” is not a rehearsed show, but a unique experiment. A few weeks before the performance, the musicians invited by Karin Müller received a video cassette with a series of film clips from well-known Hollywood films in which homemade (home) music plays a role on the screen. The invited musicians, representing different styles, composed a piece of music to accompany their selected film excerpt and will perform it in front of an audience in the performance “Pop Star vs. Movie Star” at the message salon.
The Small Festival – message salon Performances, Zurich, 9–19 October 2002
Concept and curation Esther Eppstein, technical support Tomas Kudrna