Dis Fig / Zein Majali
Presenting two new live works developed in residence at Somerset House Studios.
Archived Event
| Times | Sat 23 Mar 19.00 - 20.30 |
| Space | Lancaster Rooms New Wing |
Dis Fig
Berlin based producer and performer Felicia Chen, also known as Dis Fig, presents a new body of work developed during a three-month residency at Somerset House Studios with the support of the Goethe-Institut London. It’s both her first full-length statement since 2019’s debut album PURGE and her first solo London headline performance to date. The live performance will lean on new processes which utilise self-made electro-acoustic instruments and improvisational channelling.
Dis Fig’s performances are fueled by her own raw vulnerability. Both violent and at times hauntingly beautiful, she tumbles dynamically through heavy emotional landscapes, traversing them using voice and electronics.
Aiding her in this journey will be drummer and producer Sam Jones, taking his influences from jazz, grime and dub to dismantle rhythms and create new skeletal experimentations within the performance. Together, Chen and Jones will exercise their individual acrobatics in conversation with one another, speaking their truths in tandem.
Dis Fig will present a further development of the Assembly premiere at CTM Festival in 2025, the material forming the basis of an upcoming full-length release.
Commissioned by Somerset House Studios and Goethe-Institut London in partnership with CTM Festival Berlin.
Zein Majali
INTIHAK انتهاك (violation)
Zein Majali's new audio visual performance explores the relationship between technology and perception, the evolution of a culture stalled through foreign innovation and machines, violently overwriting memory and social codes.
Much has been said about the Arab world and its discontents. Majali’s work attempts to reckon with an interrupted civilisation and how continuous intervention has affected her generation’s perception of the past and vision for the future. INTIHAK انتهاك is built on the realisation that much of the artists’ cultural programming consumed as a teenager whilst living in Amman was funded by governments pushing pro-western sentiments among Arab youth. Confronting the impacts of soft power and software, Majali sees the effects of a cultural flattening through globalisation as crucial in her navigation of personal disconnection with her ancestral past.
Utilising generated, sampled and recorded sound and video, INTIHAK انتهاك jumps from ancient tribal rhythms to double time nightcore remixes and virtual worlds, mimicking the fragmented and disorienting act of tracing back culture while living in the cursed timeline of today.
Zein Majali is one of three recipients of Somerset House Studios’ Music and Sound Residency, a 15-month residency for experimental music and sound shaped by Somerset House Studios in collaboration with artist mentors Paul Purgas, Nkisi, and Gaika.
ACCESSIBILITY
If you have any accessibility requirements and have any questions, please contact our Visitor Experience team at Somerset House ahead of the event.
