People Making Stuff

On Saturday 20 december the ‘people making stuff’ festival took place in The Hague, at the former docks of the Norfolk, which is now an event area. An inspiring night with a lot of enjoyment, the theme of this year was likely to be called ‘new music’.

The festival was opened by a robot from the future who hended out a manifest to a representative of the city-district for 'The Hague as the capital of culture in 2018' :

Before getting in, the first encounter was already quite something, entering the former Norfolk area the way to the docks where the festival took place was directed with a red carpet. This was due to a project of Sara Vrugt named ‘A Red Line’ and where as today she gave a minor preview.

Entering the docks my eyes gazed at the small carton boxes which were placed all around the place. The carton boxes were supposed to sit on I guess, but of the mass and placement a lot of people thought it was art. And it was, I suppose.

After talking to the familiar, and taking some of the appetites we took a seat somewhere upfront. The sides of the dock was filled with music podia, which made me think of Jools Holland. When the first band ended, another one started on the other side.

I enjoyed the sound of the ‘Onur Ataman Ensemble’ and ‘Teletekst is Dood’ (-teletext is dead) very much but the second ‘band’ playing after the kick-off opera was for me the real ‘ear-opener’ of the evening: “The Klang Ensemble”. I had never heard of them before, though they have performed a lot across Holland according to their website. The ensemble was formed in 2003 and consists out of saxophones, trombone, electric guitar, keyboards and percussion.

If you are a fan of Sigur Ros and The Album Leaf you might like this Ensemble. As it is not easily placed in a category more it is more likely to be seen as ‘modern classical music’. Though I found it somewhat relaxing, getting into trance when closing your eyes, entering a whole new world. ( I felt like floating, in a castle made of glass, sunbeams going through, slowly rising into the blue sky. And that without using drugs. )