ROTTERDAM, 14 December 2021 - The Motel Mozaïque (MOMO) festival line-up is starting to take shape with a new series of names. For the twentieth edition of MOMO Festival, from 21 to 23 April 2022 in the center of Rotterdam, Blak Saagan, INNERWOUD, MC Yallah & Debmaster, Gino-Cochise, Amenti Theatre Company and Mirjam Manusama are among the names confirmed. In addition, the adventurous festival is also launching an Open Call for Rotterdam-based creatives.
Motel Mozaïque has already announced that singer and rapper S10 (who will be representing the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022), Flemish singer-songwriter Meskerem Mees and Balimaya Project from London's vibrant jazz scene, among others, will be coming to Rotterdam in April.
During MOMO Festival, visitors will discover new tastemakers in the field of music, performance, dance and visual arts. In addition, MOMO guides will lead them on tours that take them to the frayed edges of Rotterdam. MOMO is also the place to be for special projects or collaborations.
Music
With the arrival of these five acts the music program becomes even more diverse, international and exciting: Blak Saagan (Italian producer and multi-talent), INNERWOUD (Flemish double bass player who makes a haunting mix of drone, ambient and neo-classical), MC Yallah & Debmaster (Grim raps from Kenya and uplifting bass music from France), Gino-Cochise (contrarian and elusive solo artist who previously played with Pink Oculus and Anne-Fay) and Gita Buhari (great soul talent from Rotterdam, she will come up with new music that she says will contain elements of trip-hop, shoegaze and soul).
Performance
The first names in the field of performance do not lie: The Rotterdam dance collective Amenti Theatre Company is no stranger to Motel Mozaïque. Their performances Anima and Ayahuasca have previously been featured at the festival, and artistic director Gil 'The Grid' Gomes Leal played a key role in the Liquid program in 2019. Their new show Lilith will premiere at MOMO Festival.
Dance performance meets concert, that's the promise of Into The Open by Belgian dance company Voetvolk of Lisbeth Gruwez & Maarten Van Cauwenberghe. Seven performers whip each other up with infectious krautrock and electronics - think Can's repetitive grooves crossed with The Chemical Brothers' high voltage beats.
Identity is rarely straightforward: it develops over time, consists of many different layers and is not immune to outside influences. The dance performance Sorry, but I feel slightly disidentified shows this in a subtle way. The French choreographer Benjamin Kahn created this solo performance for the Amsterdam dancer Cherish Menzo, as the first piece of a trilogy devoted to the body, stereotypes and identity.
Mathieu Charles has been active in the Flemish spoken word and hip hop scene for years, but has also recently made a name for himself as a theater maker with his first performance Fanon Mixtape.
Art
The avant-garde fashion designs of Rotterdam-based Mirjam Manusama leave plenty of room for ambiguity: her clothes are not tied to a specific gender or season. Away from restrictive norms, there is room for self-expression, innovation and sustainability. Manusama studied Fashion Design at HKU and then started designing costumes for dancers and the theater. For example, she has been designing for the Rotterdam-based dance collective Amenti since 2015. She takes that experience into her own fashion label Manusama Nuance: her eye for movement, draping and androgynous fits can be seen in every design. This was also noticed on the other side of the ocean because her first collection was selected for New York Fashion Week.
Open Call for Rotterdam Creatives
The Open Call is back. During the twentieth edition of MOMO Festival, Rotterdam-based creatives can use €1000 to throw their own party, create a bizarre performance, immerse visitors in a social experiment, organize an open-air exhibition or build an art installation.
Wild ideas are embraced and can be submitted until Sunday, January 9, 2022. Detailed information about the Open Call can be found on the Motel Mozaïque website.
Previously announced
Twenty acts have previously been announced for the program of the Rotterdam festival; Balimaya Project, S10, Spacey Jane, Working Men's Club, Sylvie Kreusch, Billy Nomates, Nitrogen, Sad Night Dynamite, Finn Ronsdorf, Meskerem Mees, Hand Habits, Talk Show, Soccer96, Real Lies, Mysie, Jean-Michel Blais, Famous, Katy J. Pearson, Jockstrap and Broadside Hacks.
MOMO Festival will be announcing more music acts, performers, artists, discovery routes and special projects in the near future.
