'Upacara Kampret!' spotlights Asian creatives bordering undefined genres & practices

Strange Weather is set to present 'Upacara Kampret!' on March 18, 2023 — a synergic gathering of regional musicians, performance and visual artists an at undisclosed location somewhere in Singapore. Details of the venue will only be revealed one day before the event.

The name 'Upacara Kampret!' comes from Bahasa Indonesia meaning “ceremony of the damned” and will bring over sound and visual label, DIVISI62, from Jakarta.

The trio previously made their mark in Europe, performing at Belgium’s Beursschouwburg Festival, Poland’s Unsound Festival and Holland Festival x Lofi in the Netherlands.

DIVISI62 will be headlining 'Upacara Kampret!', showcasing a live performance of experimental, deconstructed Javanese gamelan — traditional ensemble music made up of mostly percussive instruments.

Strange Weather upcoming presentation is centred around the binary link between the technologic and the organic. The sounds you’ll hear will range from synthetic tribal, ambient and techno to intense gamelan jungle, complete with a number of performative elements that merge human and machine that add to the multisensory experience.

The line-up of selectors and musicians include Strange Weather’s very own forecasters A’alely and YETPET who will perform alongside guest musicians AFTERVOLTER x Rudi Osman and Uwalmassa’s Django.

In addition, local dance ensemble, RAGAURA, and interactive light designer, Alina Ling will be supporting the event’s assortment of sonic offerings.

RAGAURA’s Josh Tirados, Kansh, Sonia Kwek and Xue will be adding their flair for movement to the experimental yet dancefloor friendly sounds of Uwalmassa.

Manipulating light as a medium, creative technologist, Alina Ling, is set to embed technological interventions on the night’s performers for her own piece titled ‘Moving Heads’.

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An art exhibition curated by Singapore’s own Mama Magnet will be held on March 18-19 in order to create room for pre and post-performance dialogue. The spotlighted artist is Yogyakarta’s Arwin Hidayat, whose paintings and contemporary one-off batik pieces will be on display.

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Hidayat’s creations aim to connect mythology and the mind to the pharmaceutical and chemical — a fitting contribution towards the event’s narrative that gears towards the metaphysical.

Strange Weather founder, A’alely, regards this fifth edition of the audio-visual event series a “dream collaboration” that’s in line with their vision to “forecast Asian artists and creative studios that border on the realm of undefined genres and practices.”

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