Introducing We Make Waves, a new Berlin-based festival and conference made for women, trans and non-binary people poised to disrupt the music industry. This November, we will bring together a group of renegade performers, artists, and activists from Berlin and beyond in order to share transformational ideas, experiences, and motivation for future projects and collaborations.
For our inaugural year, we are proud to present a keynote by JD Samson (Le Tigre/Men) live performances by The Chicks (Chicks on Speed), legendary artist, founder of Queercore and punk icon Vaginal Davis, ethereal soundscaper Julianna Barwick, a solo set from psych saz queen Derya Yildirim, synth-heavy Franco-pop from Cléa Vincent, NYC’s underground rap diva Dai Burger, Oakland’s trans poptronic princess Ah Mer Ah Su, Zimbabwean emcee A.W.A. (African Women Arise), and feminist punk icon Meredith Graves (Perfect Pussy) + more to be announced. An evening programme with DJs and live electronic performances will lead us into the night.
Meredith Graves/ Perfect Pussy
We Make Waves (WMW) is a new festival and conference for women, trans and non-binary individuals in the music industry, with its first edition taking place in Berlin from 9-11 November 2017. We aim to connect existing networks and communities in Berlin and beyond — our doors are open to people of all race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, income, educational background or physical ability, and we focus on providing a forum for discussion, skill-sharing, and developing long-lasting projects.
Community & visibility: With a delegate programme comprised of experienced professionals from around the world, We Make Waves encourages the development of cross-cultural and cross-genre partnerships. Through workshops, talks, panel discussions and an ongoing mentoring programme, we endeavor to build new infrastructure and support systems for participants and their communities. A sign-up programme will be available for those want to share their expertise on certain industry subjects and to workshop ideas. Socially focused events will provide a space for attendees to make connections, plan future projects, and reflect on the festival content.
Cross-genre programme: We Make Waves will be partnering with established local and international groups whose work we admire including Room4Resistance, New World Dysorder, Siren Collective, female:pressure, Meetup Berlin, No Shade and more. There will be a film programme showcasing a variety of female-focused and female-produced music-related shorts and features. In coordination with the conference, We Make Waves will be hosting a youth empowerment camp for girls and gender-nonconforming kids from the ages of 9 to 16. Inspired by the “If you can see it, you can be it” philosophy of representation, the camp will offer music production and songwriting workshops, as well as instruction on DIY event planning, self promotion, public speaking, and home studio creation. In order to continue the conversation, We Make Waves encourages year-long research via an online portal and network available to participants and other interested parties. Additionally, there will be showcase performances from a wide variety of genre-spanning artists at the regal St. Elisabeth Kirche + Villa Elisabeth and the historic art collective and club space ACUD.
Tickets & Accreditation: Tickets to November’s festival + conference are available via eventbrite. We Make Waves would like to make sure that everyone is served and connected via their events, and aims to provide a support structure from which all can benefit. For lower income participants, there are options to apply for accreditation or to volunteer.
The Fesival will happen at Elisabeth Kulturräume and ACUD, both near U-Bahn Rosenthaler Platz, Mitte
My cru meetup Berlin will also be present at a roundtable discussion called “Build Your Own Tribe: Collectives in Conversation” with Berlin collectives about how they built their communities, what grassroots organizing really looks like, what inspires them, and the challenges of building something from scratch. Saturday 15-16pm @ ACUD!
For detailed program & more information go to:
