Fara Fara Music Festival Brings Congolese Soundclash to HangarBicocca

HangarBicocca in Milan presents the Fara Fara Music Festival on July 7 and 8, 2016, from 7 PM to 1 AM. The event is an artist project tied to Carsten Höller's exhibition 'Doubt,' on view until July 31. It pits two Congolese groups against two European groups in a musical competition where the audience chooses which performance to watch. The Congolese stage features Homba Petit Bokul de Viva La Musica, led by a disciple of Papa Wemba, and Les Anciens du Quartier Latin, founded by Koffi Olomide in 1983. The European stage includes CB21, a crew with Lorenzo Senni, Simone Trabucchi, Emanuele Marcuccio, Massimilano Bomba, Matteo Pit, and Jim C. Ned, plus British producer Danny L Harle. The festival draws from the soundclash tradition depicted in Höller's 2014 film 'Fara Fara,' which means 'face to face' in Lingala, originating in Kinshasa. The European stage is an installation by nArchitects, part of the 'Architecture as Art' show during the XXI Triennale di Architettura. Selection of Congolese acts was done by Bellou Luvuadio Bengo, a music agent and longtime collaborator of Höller.