Techno culture exhibition travels to Colombo
Techno music emerged in the 1980s as a bold genre born from the fusion of technology and music. Its evolution over the years has transformed it into a global movement that deeply influences both the underground and mainstream electronic scene.
A travelling exhibition ‘Techno Worlds’ presented by the Goethe Institut is now in Colombo. The exhibition is travelling through many countries and continents, from Budapest, to many states in the USA, to Mexico and now to South Asia. Colombo is the start of the South Asian leg, with Kolkata and Delhi in India to follow.
Robert Lippok: Participating artist
Director of the Goethe Institut, Stefan Winkler, expresses his excitement at bringing this exhibition here, to showcase just how big of an impact techno-culture has had on many different cultures, and how its influence has spread.
For Jan Ramesh De Saram, the German-Sri Lankan, who is in charge of “Techno Worlds” here in Colombo, the exhibition holds special meaning as the techno and nightlife scene in Berlin usually held in abandoned buildings, following the reunification of East and West Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, was very much a part of his youth.
As the civil war came to a close in our country, the experience he had in Germany led him to utilise the many empty buildings in Colombo to create a similar experience – the Pettah Interchange; a celebration of techno-music, art and culture that took place in abandoned and neglected urban spaces in Colombo from 2012 to 2016.
The name was coined through the first club night experience that was held in the Gaffoor Building in Pettah, as a non-profit cultural initiative, which aimed to represent electronic music and alternate style with the help of German electronic music artists, along with South Asian and Sri Lankan artists. Jan, an integral part of creating the Pettah Interchange, recalls how the term ‘interchange’ stuck with them, as the first expressway to Galle had just opened during this time.
As techno-culture continued to spread internationally, Jan realized the potential that abandoned buildings in central Colombo had to host such events.
The ‘Techno Worlds’ exhibition is being held at the Rio Hotel and Cinema complex, a site that has much more significance, because it was used as a venue for the Pettah Interchange in 2014 and 2015. The event grew in numbers, beginning from 600 people to close to 3000 people during its last year. Through the ‘Techno Worlds’ exhibition, those who visit will be able to revisit such nights and experience art work in different media; through installations, light boxes, work made out of different materials etc.
Goethe Institut Director Winkler believes the exhibition will further bring out the relationship between Germany and Sri Lanka. The audience will be able to take an ‘adventure walk’ down the old staircases of the Rio Hotel and immerse themselves in the depicted nightlife, even as the entire complex faces closure.
Robert Lippok, the participating artist in ‘Techno Worlds’, will be performing live at the venue on September 27, alongside our local artists.
Other highlights of ‘Techno Worlds’ are the screening of the 1927 movie, ‘Berlin Symphony of the Great City’ on September 28. This movie has no narration, and it portrays the city as it comes to life at dawn, finishing with the night life in the city. Electro-musicians of Sri Lanka have been asked to compose a new soundtrack for this movie.
Additionally, there will also be exciting performances by our very own experimental musicians, as well as various talks. “The objective is to attract more people to the world of techno,” Winkler says, “and people can be surprised in the various ways artists can refer to the techno phenomenon- in art, fashion, film and also technology.”
The exhibition is on from September 13-28 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Monday-Friday) and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday) with a special discussion on the history of the Pettah Interchange: ‘Remembering Pettah Interchange’ – a conversation with Ashvajit Boyle, Nihara Fernando Jan Ramesh de Saram, and Givanke Goonetilleke moderated by Imaad Majeed on September 15 at 5 p.m.
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