Looking back at Patricia Wolf & Sara Mokrani at Amstelkerk

On June 11th, Subbacultcha had the pleasure of hosting Patricia Wolf and Sara Mokrani at the historic Amsterlkerk, found at the center of Amsterdam. Bathed in the acoustics of the church’s high ceilings and white-painted wooden walls, as the sun sets through the surrounding windows, ambient, field recordings and drone filled the space.

Whilst listening to Bismillah live, the contrast between inner emotional turbulence and the calm of the natural surroundings was sensed throughout the room.

Sara Mokrani opened the evening by performing her debut album Bismillah. As she came on stage, glistening modular synthesisers meddled with deep drone sounds. Spacious melodies echoed throughout the towering church walls, Mokrani playing on her several synths with an ease that could only make it seem like they were an extension of her being. Bismillah was composed in a small house surrounded by the forest of Montmirail in France, where she used modular synths, field recordings, and an old organ discovered in a nearby village as pillars of the album. Whilst listening to Bismillah live, the contrast between inner emotional turbulence and the calm of the natural surroundings was sensed throughout the room. As sentimental melodies merged with field recordings, randomised note sequences created introspective and nostalgic landscapes for listeners to immerse themselves into.

The performance weaved carefully crafted ascension and suspense, where birds chirp, water flows and vocal underlayers create a meditative narration.

While the rain kept pouring down on the church’s roof, Patricia Wolf presented her newly released album Yarrow, among her older works. After Mokrani’s spacious and atmospheric performance, the listening of Wolf’s world pulled us into a smaller scale of organisms. The album Yarrow, also alternatively titled Music To Watch Seeds Grow By 009: Patricia Wolf (Yarrow), came as a result of Wolf’s artist residency, where she worked closely with ecologists, spending weeks immersed researching plants and their environment. Each track of the album inspects a different part of the plant’s life: the conditions that plants need to grow, the life of their roots, how they reproduce, the strength of seeds. The performance weaved carefully crafted ascension and suspense, where birds chirp, water flows and vocal underlayers create a meditative narration. Repetition is used as a means of nostalgic world-building, where wistful but hopeful drone chants carry the packed audience held at the center of the church’s columns. As some closed their eyes, others looked up at the centuries old details in the ceiling, sounds of devotion to nature flooding our ears.

Patricia Wolf and Sara Mokrani played a beautiful evening at the Amsterlkerk in Amsterdam on June 11th 2026. 

Subbacultcha has prepared an exciting upcoming program these following months, with names like Heith & Tarawangsawelas, HTRK, Carla dal Forno, GB and Joanne Robertson. Keep a close eye on our website and socials for continuous additions of your (soon to be) favourite acts.  

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