Performance + Roundtable with DJ Ipek (Berlin/Istanbul)
The Life of the Night: Building and Sustaining Diverse Communities and Safer Spaces
On International Womxn’s Day, Goethe-Institut Montreal and Never Apart present a performance by Berlin/Istanbul-based DJ İpek İpekçioğlu entitled “Hybrid Identities,” followed by a roundtable discussion with Montreal-based artists/DJs and community organizers on the challenges of building and maintaining feminist and safe nightlife spaces for marginalized groups such as womxn, queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and people of colour. Participants will share their experiences as artists, DJs, producers, promoters and/or venue managers in navigating different DIY scenes in the city. The discussion aims to bring together various communities and perspectives to collectively assess the current situation in the hopes of building future alliances and solidarities, locally and internationally. We hope to see numerous nightlife agents come out and take part in this discussion!
Participants
Based between Berlin and Istanbul, queer-living DJ, producer, and curator
İpek İpekçioğlu has established a reputation across nightlife scenes worldwide. She has performed her music at Glastonbury, Fusion, Sziget, at.tension, Berlin Festival, and many more electronic and world music festivals. İpek is also an active curator, working as the music director of CrossKultur-Festival and designing the ImPort-ExPort stage for MyFest in Kreuzberg, inviting bands to perform for an audience of up to 10,000 people. As well as her DJing and curatorial practice, İpek is a board member of the radio station Reboot.FM and a member of the female electronic musicians network female:pressure. She is a patron of the Schools without Racism - Schools with Courage initiative in Berlin, and currently leads workshops and lectures on DJing technique, hybrid and queer identities, and transcultural clubbing.
Aïsha Vertus is a DJ, journalist, and curator born and raised in Montreal. Having developed a love for hip hop culture and electronic music at an early age, she has translated her musical knowledge into a diverse collage of influences, recreating the carnival ambience of the Caribbean through Northern Brazil percussion and soulful cosmic music. She has performed at a wide range of events and festivals, from Pop Montreal to 24 Hours of Vinyl, and has set the stage for Kaytranada, Mykki Blanco, New York’s Discwoman collective, and more. As a curator, she programs for Ti-Agrikol and Mural Festival, and her work as a journalist has included written material for
The Fader and
Vice. Between 2012 and 2014, she co-directed PIU PIU, a documentary exploring Montreal’s fabled beat scene. Aïsha can be heard regularly on her n10.as Radio show Witches Brew and as a co-host on Brooklyn Radio’s Fresh Taste.
J. Ellise Barbara is a Montreal-based avant-garde singer-songwriter and artist whose musical output combines elements of brazen 80s funk, late 70s underground, and downtown no wave. A lover of the odd, dark, and overlooked elements in pop music, they find inspiration in unexpected sources, like off-the-radar acts Su Tissue, Kashif, Francis Bebey, and obscure new wave duo Rexy. Rising from artist-run spaces such as La Brique and Drones Club at the turn of the current decade, J. Ellise Barbara has seen their work soar to enduring acclaim in countries such as Japan and France, in a career whose highlights include duets with Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab), and DIY icon R. Stevie Moore. Since going on an indeterminate hiatus, Barbara's efforts have been partly centered around LGBTQ community organizing (Taking What We Need, ASTTeQ, African Rainbow). They are working on a long-awaited follow-up to their 2013 album
Soft To The Touch.
J’vlyn d’Ark is a DJ, event organizer, and artist who was raised in the Deep South and born again in Montreal’s underground queer scene. Her music rides the edge of deep house and techno, seductive and driving - at times deep, at turns dark, always hypnotic. Her passionate performances feature an acute attention to production value while her sexy and impactful beats keep the dancefloor moving. After three years of heading up the renowned monthly fundraiser Faggity Ass Fridays, d’Ark has now embarked on several solo and collaborative projects centered around queer women such as D’ark Mistress, TRYST, Acidalia and pitch:dark. A regular fixture at the circuits of commercial venues and festivals in Montreal, including Piknic Électronik, Igloofest, and several ongoing residencies, she never strays too far from the underground, where house music was born.
Xarah Dion has been an integral presence in Montreal’s music community for many years, producing and performing music on the fringes of several styles and sensibilities, from minimal wave to sludge metal, avant rock, free improv, and Arabic music. In addition to collaborating on numerous projects through the years, Xarah released her solo albums Le Mal Nécessaire in 2014 and Fugitive in 2016, two cornerstones of Montreal synth pop around which she has built international notoriety and toured extensively in Europe. Her role in the local scene has also been substantial as a founding resident of La Brique, one of Montreal’s most important and beloved DIY spaces, which from 2005 to 2013 she co-ran as a jam space, studio, and venue for some of the city’s most devoted underground figures.
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