//BUZZCUT// Festival

30 March — 1 April 2023

CCA will host part of BUZZCUT Festival, a performance festival showcasing the best and most exciting in live art. We spoke with members of the BUZZCUT team Karl Taylor and Claricia Parinussa about what to expect from this year’s festival.

What can people expect from BUZZCUT Festival?

K: BUZZCUT is the best time of the year! It’s a chance to see around 30 live artists and performance-makers showing fresh experiments in a jam-packed 3 days across CCA and Tramway. There’s a real mix of work: durational performances that you can drift in and out of, one-on-one intimate encounters, ‘sit down and watch’ studio shows and some participatory performances that are co-created with everyone present. The work we love is really experimental in form; stuff that wouldn’t find a home elsewhere. It’s a really busy, exciting vibe, with loads of spaces to meet new people and hang out. If you’re new to live art, it’s a really fun opportunity to see a bunch of stuff and find what clicks with you.

Are there any performers you’d like to highlight in this year’s line-up, both from the local scene and further afield?

K: We’re so excited to welcome Guillermo Gomez-Peña and Ballitronica back to Glasgow. They’re one of the most influential artists in live art history – Guillermo has performed in Glasgow since the 80s. They’ll be showing the pandemic divination ritual; utilising a casino roulette and traditional tarot deck to determine which texts and ritual actions occur on the night. They’ll be at Tramway on Sat 1st.

Glasgow-based artist HUSS will be showcasing the outcomes of the 2022 Emerging Artist Award; which gives an insight into the frustration, monotony and dehumanisation of the visa process; in a replica of the solicitors office which they repeatedly visited during their application for asylum.

And we can’t wait to welcome Amsterdam-based pop-superstar Mavi Veloso with her album celebrating trans and nonbinary bodies Travesti Biologica, opening our end-of-fest queer performance party taking over CCA on Saturday night.

C: I’m really anticipating the culmination of this years’ Club Residences with artists Nikhita Devi, Chardonnay Emerald, and Shawn Nayar also performing at the BUZZCUT party on Saturday. You may have seen them performing and developing their practice across Bonjour, Shoot Your Shot and HEALTHY Glasgow in the past year.

We’re also looking forward to welcoming April Lin 林森 with Everyone Spits Chicken Bones, which considers how food can act simultaneously as a mediator of care, intergenerational trauma and the diasporic experience.

Plus, daughters-of-the-rave InXestuous Sisters’ HotWorks; a post-punk airing and torching of dirty laundry (to which our audience members are invited to contribute - check out the programme for details on that!)

It’s been six years since the last in-person BUZZCUT Festival, how has the process been bringing it all together after such a long time?

C: It’s my first time being part of the team for an in person BUZZCUT Festival! It’s been great to expand our tiny team by bringing on some new folks as well as working with our Associate Curators FK Alexander and Jamila Johnson Small to make this programme happen!

K: Attending BUZZCUT back in the day was a big reason I fell in love with Glasgow, and it feels really special and exciting to bring the live festival back. A lot of people only know us through our ‘Double Thrills’ performance nights, but the festival is O.G. BUZZCUT so you can’t miss it!

BUZZCUT Festival takes place 30 March - 2 April.