Concertperformance Do. 13.06.24 in VIERTE WELT, Berlin
Codes of Absence takes us with musician Nico Yurgaki* to trace, throughout musical improvisations, his experiences of loneliness during the migration from Colombia into the EU, and how it affected his relationship with his mother Bertha Quintero. Quintero is a conga player and one of the founders of the first female salsa orchestra in Colombia, Caña Brava.
In a live video call, Yurgaki will be on stage at the Vierte Welt and Quintero in Bogotà. Together they will take us on a journey along the concept of the five claves (rhythmic codes) of Colombian-Pacific and Caribbean music. These five codes are rhythmic patterns that appear in many Colombian musical pieces. As the result of the centuries-long interweaving of different musical cultures in the Latin- Afro-American, and Caribbean regions, they will use them to guide us through intimate conversations discussing themes such as motherhood, rebellion against the patriarchy, masculinity, love – and the feeling of the absence of the loved ones in a seemingly globally connected world. Hence it turns these patterns into a symbol for the transition of identity- and its transgression.
*Nico Yurgaki is the stage name of Nicolas Cristancho, masterstudent sound art - composition in Mainz.