HUMUS Klaas Coulembier & Rebecca Diependaele
ON TALL TREES AND FLOURISHING UNDERGROWTH
n 27 June 2011, oKo (Overleg Kunstenorganisaties), the official representative of the arts sector in Flanders, went to the Dutch embassy in Brussels with a bag of compost, seeds and a manifesto entitled Solidariteit en potgrond (solidarity and compost).1 Their reason for doing so was the decision by the Dutch government to axe financing for the arts, cutting back by a good 200 million euros from 2013 onwards. Solidariteit en potgrond does not just express the bewilderment felt by artists and arts organisations in Flanders and Brussels towards our northern neighbours. Those who signed the manifesto emphasised that the planned savings would knock the ground from under the feet of the Dutch arts scene: the growth and development of highquality arts would become impossible and there would no longer be opportunities for emerging artistic talent. They asked how successful and relevant art could be reaped if there was no prior investment in young artists and experiment. The
little that remains was compared to a handful of flowerpots on the patio, cut off from a genuinely flourishing garden where plants grow well. But, in the meantime, how is the artistic ecosystem doing in Flanders? In this discussion, we will look at the places where new ideas can take root, grow and bloom, more specifically in the field of contemporary music. Which gaps are filled by new shoots of undergrowth and how do they relate to the tall trees? How vulnerable is the soil, and how can we ensure there is a rich, nutritious layer of humus?
ON TREES, UNDERGROWTH AND CLEARINGS IN THE FOREST
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When we talk about the ecosystem of the new music landscape, we have to begin with composers. They are the ones who quite simply provide the necessary conditions for a new music landscape to be possible: new music. What particularly interests us in this discussion is the colourful
concert organiser that presents a concert of new music almost every week, all year round, in a context that enthusiastically supports musicians (and audiences) in their journey of musical discovery. Despite its relatively small scale, this centre is home to a treasure trove of expertise and a network that extends around the world, making Logos – along with its radical artistic choice for the newest of the new – a crucial player within the ecosystem of new music in Flanders. The deep commitment of founders Godfried-Willem Raes and Moniek Darge and their team of young colleagues who currently run Logos can certainly be called exceptional. Finally there are also a few ‘workplaces‘ in Flanders: small, specialised organisations aimed at offering composers, musicians and other artists a place and context to work on new concepts without the pressure of deadlines or the demand that their work result in a saleable production. In particular, the Brussels workplace Q-O2 deserves a mention here.
area between the most fundamental musical foundations and the presentation of a successful composition, played by top musicians, to a full house in a national arts centre. The undergrowth, let‘s say, that is closest to creation, that creeps into small spaces and reaches upwards to the light. When we look at the new music landscape in Flanders, we quickly realise that there are all sorts of brand new, young, small-scale and/or specialised initiatives that we can classify as undergrowth. The forms they take are as diverse as their aims and motivations. In the first part of our discussion, we would like to sketch this diversity without aiming for completion. Festivals & concert organisers Between the domains covered by the new music programmes in large venues and festivals, there is a large area of fallow ground that is being colonised with great enthusiasm by smaller initiatives. The lack (and even disappearance) of playgrounds for young ensembles – necessary places where they can gain experience and show off their abilities – has led to a handful of new festivals emerging in recent years. In 2009, a group of musicians (Toon Callier, Matthias Koole, Fabian Coomans, Sam Faes and Jutta Troch) organised the one-day What‘s Next festival in Brussels for the first time. The second edition of the Tik Tak Toe festival was in July 2012, an initiative by composer Frederik Neyrinck, cellist Seraphine Stragier and double bassist Tim Vandenbergh held in an art gallery in Meigem (a village near Deinze in East Flanders). A different motivating force is behind the two-day Voortwaarts Maart/En avant Mars festival in Ghent. Composer Frank Nuyts has been running this festival since 2010 to provide a stage for aesthetics that get less of a response from the larger concert halls in Flanders, in this case mainly work that can be situated within certain manifestations of the post-modern and neo-styles. Moreover, not all the initiatives in this context are young. The Logos Foundation has provided a permanent stage for young, lesserknown, experimental or otherwise exceptional contemporary music since 1968. It is the only
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Ensembles As already mentioned, we can state that composers form the core of musical humus. The same can be said of the musician in search of something exciting, new repertoire, a different approach, a place to develop and give shape to his or her ideas. Where musicians meet, ensembles spring up like mushrooms. It sometimes looks like an experimental jigsaw puzzle: collaborations and instrumentations are tried out, often in response to a specific occasion, and the best match is explored further. This leads to numerous new ensembles, often with a pronounced individual identity. In recent years, for example, we were able to make our acquaintance with ensembles including the string quartet Arsis4, chamber ensemble Besides, electronics duo Jasper&Jasper, mobile ensemble Nadar and electric guitar quartet ZWERM. What is striking about these ensembles (and the same often applies to established ensembles focusing on new music) is the close relationships they maintain with composers. New compositions are often the result of an intense collaboration. Compositions