AMOK

For two weekends, Bruges breathes AMOK. AMOK brings interventions to unexpected places - a swimming pool, a residential care center, a psychiatric hospital - during the first two weekends of October, with one question as a common thread: AM I OK? Music, film, performance, and care find each other. Art as a way to slow down, to feel, to be together. Art as care, care as art AMOK starts from a simple but powerful conviction: art is a form of care. With that thought as a common thread, the festival brings music, performance, film, and participatory projects together for two weekends in special places in Bruges. Art as care (October 2-4) The first weekend immerses the audience in art. In the Guilini Zwembad, Pool of Sound transforms the water into a sound universe with music by Elena Rykova, Pak Yan Lau, and Joël Cahen. campfire by Bosse Provoost and Ezra Veldhuis envelops the listener with light, sound, and stories. The festival opens festively with a free W.E.R.F. records night in Cactus, with, among others, Compro Oro, Helena Casella, and Kunde. Furthermore, the Icelandic quartet ADHD, the Austrian other:M:other, and the avant-garde ensemble Nist-Nah van Will Guthrie are on the program. Musician and filmmaker Micha Volders brings his docu-fiction short film SŏN as a live performance, accompanied by archive footage as tableaux vivants. In care places such as Viro and the House with many Rooms, intimate 'Presents' are created from encounters between artists and residents. Art in care (October 10-11) For the second weekend, AMOK settles in the Psychiatrisch Ziekenhuis Onzelievevrouw, in the context of the Open Geestdagen van Te Gek!?. In a route of performances, installations, and concerts, the general public gets to know art in care and a caring context. Dance in Bruges-maker Christian Bakalov spends a month in the institution to be inspired and nourished for his Breathing Choir. This is a choir with participants that focuses on a practice around breathing techniques, often used in mental health care. It promises to be an immersive performance. Anneleen Keppens thematizes the lack of social care for mothers in the premiere of Lullabye. In a scenography with a rocking hammock, Keppens sings, dances, and embodies lullabies about the ambivalence of motherhood and other care practices. This is followed by an intimate care ritual, aimed at informal caregivers. The program also includes both collective moments of breath, movement, and sound as well as intimate one-on-one experiences. In the greenhouses, Benno Steinegger invites you to listen to plants, granvat provides a de-stimulating listening massage, and Robbert&Frank Frank&Robbert lets you do crafts to forget your worries. The chapel functions as a concert hall that weekend. For example, Joachim Badenhorst is there with his latest album Youran about grief and letting go, and the Argentine performer Paula Sanchez explores the boundaries of the cello with her body. There is also an offer for the active participant. Katleen Van Langendonck, curator and grief coach, leads a Mindful Walk where breathing and walking meditation go hand in hand. Clinical psychologist Brenda Anyango also invites you to a body-oriented workshop with Healing Movements. Through moments of movement and silence, you learn to listen to your body. The caring art project t a s t b a a r collective brings artistic, intimate rituals tailored to the individual, where families move together in exploration of what can offer comfort. Finally, the table speeches - inspired by the legendary interventions of James Ensor - invite you during a shared dinner to conversation and reflection around art, care, and social blind spots, and the Delicate Revolutie in collaboration with De Republiek makes room for encounter and dialogue. Art and care go hand in hand more and more often, and we would like to extend that sustainably to the future with the established collaborations.