Deirdre’s Diversion

On Friday I went looking for Sigma . Their performance is taking place in an unmarked building in Varna. Before long I realised I was lost and was throughly enjoying myself. I’m staying in a hotel sandwiched between a triangle of 24hour petrol stations, the Railway Station and an Industrial Port. All of this circled with ulgy developments and constant traffic. Getting lost was a delight. The backstreets are quiet and broken. Old women look down from the balconys at you. It’s like a permanent Sunday. Occasionally you come along the remains of really antique walls. Walking through one high rise housing estate I saw a walkway over what looked like castle ruins. No fuss or interpretation centre to tell me what era they belonged to. And just when you wonder were where all the people have gone you come across a little cafe lined square with roses in full bloom. After a few hours I naturally arrived back on familiar territory in the city centre.
KERA (Varna’s Digital Arts Festival) had visited Seas Club the previous night and let loose to TimesNewRoman (DJ Dogus) set.

On the dancefloor I met a charming Columbian, Oswaldo Machia who told me about his piece ‘Diversions’ a sound tower set in a derelict building. By now it was evening and almost time for the opening so I wandered down to see it. It’s a tower of stacked wooden boxes each emitting a different animal noise. 100 different animals are used in the recording. Machia is passionate about the texture of languages and uses the analogy of animals in capacity to force us to think about what happens when humans lose there languages.
We then went next door to another shack of a building. Frank Kastner from Berlin was exhibiting his scultpure there. Is a cloud or a cocoon? I think the latter but its a piece that allows for your own interpretation. I had to revisit yesterday to take a picture so I could share it with you.

These are the tracks we were getting down and dirty to Thursday night at Seas Club…

1. Fanfare Ciocarlia – Pana Cand Nu Te Iubeam

2. Bratsch – Danse de l’Alcohol

3. Chambao – Los muchahos de mi barrio

4. Kardes Turkuler – Anako Isler Nanay

5. Antwerp Gipsy Ska Orchestra – Djelem djelem

6. Gipsy.cz – Romano Hiphop

7. Sanseverino – Rouge

8. Emir Kustirika & The Non-Smoking Orchestra – Pitbull Terrier

9. Shantel – Koupes/I’ll smash the glasses

10. Ciguli – Lolo