Khabat Abas
Traces of Else Marie Pade

A concert evening with experimental cellist and composer Khabat Abas in resonance with the work of Else Marie Pade.

Working across music, sound, and performance, Abas investigates time, space, and memory through everyday sounds, music, and noise. Moving beyond traditional norms, the Kurdistan-Iraqi artist crafts cellos from diverse materials, composes and improvises, and incorporates her body into performance. Through musical improvisation, her exercises of echoes and resistance trace a path toward acoustic exploration. Delving into how we experience sound, particularly across different geopolitical contexts, Abas seeks to intersect political realities with personal expression, challenging established systems of value, discipline, and control. In this 30-minute live performance, experimentation becomes an act of resistance, and listening transforms into a shared experience of imagination.

The event is presented in collaboration with MaerzMusik 2026. MaerzMusik sees itself as a place to exchange artistic knowledge(s) through new encounters and collective experiences. The festival is rooted in the multimodality of listening, contemporary music, and sound, employing concerts, performances, installations, music theatre, film screenings, and discursive formats to open up a space where life, art, and theory can co-exist. Visitors are also encouraged to attend the concert "Energy Archive 4" by Ellen Fullman and the JACK Quartet, performed twice at 19:00 and 21:00 at the St. Elisabeth Church, a short walk from KW.