Culture
Germany at the World Culture Festival and Karachi Biennale 2024

The World Culture Festival 2024 at the Arts Council Pakistan (ACP) in Karachi was a vibrant showcase of global artistic excellence. This year, two mesmerizing performances stood out: Cocoon Dance and the Cheel Trio captured the imagination and hearts of all who attended. The Goethe-Institut in Pakistan was the largest contributor to the festival as part of its international cultural engagement.

Ethereal exploration of the “Unthought Body”: A breathtaking performance by Cocoon Dance.

On the 31st day of the World Culture Festival, the stage at ACP transformed into a realm of pure artistic expression, as Cocoon Dance, a German-Swiss contemporary dance ensemble, presented their acclaimed performance exploring the "unthought body."

Founded in 2000 by choreographer Rafaële Giovanola and dramaturge Rainald Endraß, Cocoon Dance is known for pushing the boundaries of movement and dance. Their performance, marked by abstract, emotive gestures and improvisation, invited the audience into an immersive experience where the body became a site for exploration beyond words and thoughts. The choreography, in which each movement seemed to emanate from a place of spontaneous discovery, created an otherworldly atmosphere, engaging the audience on a deeply emotional and intellectual level. The performance was a rare opportunity to witness how the "unthought" could shape our understanding of the human form, perception, and connection.

Cocoon Dance’s mesmerizing execution of these ethereal movements left the audience entranced, providing a powerful reminder of the body's limitless potential in its most liberated, unrestrained form.
Find out more about the artists here:
Instagram.com/cocoondance

Music that ignited the soul: A jazz experience with the Cheel Trio

On the 35th day of the festival, jazz took centre stage with the Cheel Trio—a collective that drew from the rich tradition of jazz while creating a fusion of modern sounds. Saxophonist Luise Volkmann, guitarist Paul Jarret, and drummer Max Andrzejewski from Germany brought the sounds of improvisational jazz to life at ACP's Auditorium 1.

The trio’s performance was an extraordinary musical journey. They blended intricate rhythms with soulful melodies that kept the audience swaying and grooving from start to finish. With each improvisation, they created a dynamic interplay between harmony and tension, pushing the boundaries of jazz and creating something uniquely their own. The intimate yet electric atmosphere they created in the hall demonstrated the transformative power of music to transcend cultures and connect audiences on a deeper level.
Find out more about the artists here:
Instagram.com/CheelTrio

Karachi Biennale opens to the public

The fourth edition of the Karachi Biennale (KB24), Pakistan’s largest contemporary art exhibition, launched on October 27. It will be open to the public until November 10.

This year’s Biennale marks a significant milestone as Waheeda Baloch, a professor at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro, takes the helm as the first-ever female curator of the event. Her curatorial theme, Rizq (رزق) | Risk, delves into the intersection of sustenance and threat, exploring critical global and local issues surrounding food security and ecological challenges. Peruvian-German artist Daniela Zambrano, exhibited her project on the “Colonial history of Potatoes”, along with an interactive and collaborative performance based on her live cooking of the Peruvian dish “Pachamanca”.

The Pachamanca – the pot of the cosmos, would be an interpretation / approximation of what it means in Quechua. It is a celebration and collective ritual, dating back over 4000 years. The evidence of the oldest Pachamanca is the one celebrated by the woemna dn emen of Lauricocha, in the central Andes of Peru. One of the most important things about this form of cooking is that it is done underground, with hot stones cooked together with a series of ingredients native to the Andes and the Amazon.
Find out more about the artist here:
https://www.instagram.com/DanielaZambranoAlmidon