Subbacultcha and We Are Public are thrilled to announce Loom Fest – a new interdisciplinary one-day festival.

On Saturday 15 February 2025, Loom Fest takes over the stages of de Sloot and de Sering in Amsterdam with an enthralling programme bringing together forward thinking music and contemporary dance performances.

The lineup features world-revered experimental composer Klein, ever-exploratory electronic musician bela, praised contemporary choreographer Arno Schuitemaker, subversive performer Courtney May Robertson, boundary pushing composer Ji Young Kang, emotive electroacoustic musician Aimée Theriot and multitalented performer YAV. 

Join for an evening diving head first into the most unique and intriguing acts from around the world, followed by an official afterparty hosted by Dusty Cabinets on Krackfree Soundsystem at De Sering.

Full Lineup

Klein (DJ set)

Klein has been a darling of experimental music since emerging with ONLY and Lagata, which immediately bowled over an audience transfixed by her beguiling collages of R&B, grime and voice. There is an allusiveness to her audio work that clearly transcends such generic descriptions, betraying the connective thinking of an artist equally at home in film, theatre and gallery contexts.

To list the variety of roles she plays would be to miss the point of her wide-ranging practice, a mode of playful experimentation that sees her adopting, rearranging and discarding the conventions of discipline, genre and form so rapidly that it can be tough to keep up. At once prolific and obfuscating, she is just as likely to upload a project to YouTube without telling anyone as she is to collaborate with some of the greatest artists, musicians and writers of our time, including Mark Leckey, Mica Levi and Fred Moten.

At Loom Fest, she is gracing us with a special hybrid DJ/live set presenting her latest record Marked.

bela 

bela is a musician and a performance artist creating propulsive mind-bending club music that sounds refreshingly alien while remaining steeped in tradition.
On stage, bela growls through a diary of poems and slogans over a composition of electronic pungmul music. bela reclaims the depths of queerness and miscommunication through the process of a ceremony. Transposing Korean folk music into riveting club music, their shows break through conventional rhythmic patterns and tempo limitations.

bela has performed at internationally esteemef festivals such as CTM Festival, Unsound Festival Kraków, and Rewire Festival, and has supported electronic music heavyweights Pharmakon and Eli Keszler. Their tour with okkyung lee and Yeong Die included shows in London’s iconic Cafe OTO, the white hotel, A4 festival in Bratislava and more.

Arno Schuitemaker presents: O S C A R

Hyperphysical and mesmerising, Arno Schuitemaker‘s performances are praised for the depth he brings to themes where the intimate meets the universal. He is one of the most intriguing performing artists of the moment, having showcased his work on leading stages and festivals in more than 25 countries recently.
With O S C A R, Arno Schuitemaker offers a unique perspective on the idea of a portrait. Every body carries a story as we move through different worlds: the worlds we are born into, the worlds we find ourselves in and share with others, and the worlds we remember and imagine. These dimensions shape our identity.
The three solos that comprise O S C A R embody freedom and empowerment. In this special edition, performer and dancer Ivan Ugrin is one of the featured artists.

Courntey May Robertson 

Courtney May Robertson is a subversive performer and interdisciplinary maker with a fierce and captivating energy. 

In her movement-based work, she aims to create emotionally charged sensorial universes that deal with complex themes in a rounded way; that evoke feeling first and thought thereafter. There is a raw, rough, gut initiated energy present throughout her work, perhaps influenced by her long engagement in underground punk and metal scenes. In contrast, that wild unfiltered expression is mixed with a certain affiliation with discipline and structure, likely stemming from her background in competitive cheerleading and upbringing in a military environment. This paradox results in an eclectic blend of chaos and order sure to be enthralling.
Read the review of her performance Hunter to get a glimpse of her world in Theaterkrant.

At Loom Fest, she presents a research based performance, developing her project Hunter even further.

Ji Youn Kang 

In her work, composer and performer Ji Youn Kang explores the relationship between musical and physical spaces. She composes live electronic pieces for both traditional and non-traditional instruments, ranging from a solo instrument to a large orchestra, exploring mostly the primitive, empowering rhythmical elements and the noisy sound sources involved in Korean ritual music.

Her pieces have been played in many different places and festivals including La Biennale di Venezia in Italy, the Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Rewire Festival, Sonic Acts, STRP, TodaysArt, ModernBody, International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt in Germany, Sonar in Spain, Festival Archipel in Switzerland, sonADA in United Kingdom, SICMF in South Korea, Time of Music in Finland and Royaumont, Synthesis in France.

Aimée Theriot 

Aimée Theriot is a sound artist, researcher, organizer and musician interested in understanding the world through its sounds and vibrations. She has a shapeshifting practice that manifests as text, music, curatorial work, installation, research, and performance. With a background in free improvisation and experimental music, she draws from ambient, ASMR, deep listening, and soundscape recordings, with a heavy dose of experimentation using live electronics, e-cello, guitar, voice and other sounding objects. Her work has been presented at festivals and galleries internationally, and her music can be found in labels such as Sofa Music, Editions Verde, Unheard Records, Relative Pitch Records amongst others. 

YAV

Yav is a multitalented performer, creator, singer and songwriter, producer, movement artist and model, originally from Congo. Throughout the years Yav has worked as a dancer with various choreographers in the contemporary dance field.  Mid-2018 he started his career as a choreographer and he has been mentioned in the NRC TOP 101 LIST’ upcoming talent in the category Dance.  As an artist, YAV has been featured in influential magazines such as VOGUE, NL, I-D, GLAMCULT and NUMERO NETHERLANDS.  At Loom Fest, he’s presenting a unique performance.

Loom Fest is kindly supported by Fonds 21 and AFK.
Poster design: Bin Koh

Tickets

Loom Fest tickets
Loom Fest is free for Subbacultcha and We Are Public Members. Subbacultcha members can make a reservation by sending an email to mailinglist@subbacultcha.nl with ‘Loom Fest’ in the subject line + your name in the email. Non-members can purchase the tickets now to ensure a spot to this evening of sensational performances with the best price. Loom Fest tickets.
Early Bird tickets: €16. Regular tickets: €19.

Afterparty Tickets
Loom Fest is followed by an official after party hosted by SOW Worldwide – Dusty Cabinets on the Krackfree Soundsystem at De Sering, right where Loom Fest draws the last finishing notes.  Dusty Cabinets has provided a special discount code for Subbacultcha members only. The discount code information is sent to our members via email on 14.01.2025. If you’re a member but didn’t get the code, please reach out at mailinglist@subbacultcha.nl.
Afterparty tickets for members: €10.60 here (you should have received a code in your mailbox, in case you can not find this, you can contact us).
Regular Afterparty tickets: €16.65 via RA.