Berlin Atonal

Berlin Atonal
Name	Berlin Atonal
Location	Berlin, Germany
Years active	1982–1990; 2013–present
Founders	Dieter Moebius; Einstürzende Neubauten; Genesis P-Orridge; Throbbing Gristle (note: collective scene origins)
Genre	Experimental music; industrial music; electronic music; sound art

Berlin Atonal

Berlin Atonal is an experimental music and sound art festival and institution rooted in the post-punk and industrial scenes of Berlin and later re-established as a contemporary platform for avant-garde electronic music, sound installation, and interdisciplinary performance. It connects legacies from the 1980s to contemporary practices, hosting artists from across Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa while operating within Berlin’s cultural infrastructure. The festival engages with museums, galleries, and production houses to present site-specific works, retrospectives, and new commissions.

History

The festival traces origins to early 1980s West Berlin underground networks influenced by groups like Einstürzende Neubauten, Throbbing Gristle, and figures associated with Factory Records and Mute Records scenes, positioning it alongside events such as the Documenta offshoots and the rise of venues like SO36 and Berghain. During its initial run (1982–1990) it showcased experimental intersections between artists linked to Dieter Moebius, Brian Eno-adjacent projects, and members of the No Wave and post-punk movements who performed in spaces near Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. The festival’s hiatus coincided with reunification-era cultural shifts and the emergence of new institutions like the Kunst-Werke Berlin and Hamburger Bahnhof exhibitions. When revived in 2013, the re-launch was shaped by collaborations with organizations such as Sonic Acts, MaerzMusik, and the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, and by funding mechanisms involving the German Federal Cultural Foundation and Berlin’s Senate cultural policy. Since re-opening, it has curated partnerships with international bodies including Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art (New York), and Fondazione Prada for artist exchanges and archival projects.

Venue and Architecture

Historically performed in venues ranging from disused industrial sites to converted warehouses in Kreuzberg and Mitte, the contemporary festival established a long-term base in the monumental Kraftwerk Berlin complex, a former power station renowned for hosting large-scale sound installations and productions by companies like Cirque du Soleil and events such as Berlin Biennale. Kraftwerk’s Brutalist infrastructure and cavernous turbine halls afford parallels to spaces used by Fluxus collectives and to the adaptive reuse practices seen at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. The venue’s spatial characteristics inform acoustics, lighting, and scenography, attracting designers and engineers from institutions like Philips research labs, companies such as d&b audiotechnik, and scenographers affiliated with Royal Opera House projects. Architectural dialogues have involved consultants formerly engaged with Zaha Hadid Architects and exhibitions organized in conversation with Staatliche Museen zu Berlin curators.

Programming and Artistic Direction

Artistic direction balances retrospectives and commissions, often curated by directors and curators with ties to institutions like Neue Nationalgalerie, Serpentine Galleries, and Serralves; programming teams have included collaborators from MUTEK, CTM Festival, and MaerzMusik. The festival foregrounds site-specific sound art, immersive audiovisual productions, and exploratory trajectories connecting practitioners from Berlin School legacies to contemporary IDM and ambient music producers. Commissions have involved researchers from Fraunhofer Society and technologists affiliated with IRCAM and ZKM for spatial audio and interactive systems. The curatorial approach engages cross-disciplinary figures from William Basinski-type composers, visual artists exhibited at MoMA PS1, to choreographers who worked with Pina Bausch-linked companies. Educational programs collaborate with universities like UdK Berlin, Goldsmiths, University of London, and Columbia University.

Artists and Notable Performances

Performers and participants have encompassed a broad roster spanning generations and geographies: pioneers such as Laurie Spiegel, Nico, and members connected to Throbbing Gristle; influential electronic and experimental artists including Robert Ashley, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Pan Sonic, Alva Noto, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Fennesz, Tim Hecker, Ben Frost, Oneohtrix Point Never, Arca; noise and industrial figures like Einstürzende Neubauten, Merzbow, Wolfgang Voigt, Sunn O))); sound artists and composers such as Christian Marclay, Annea Lockwood, Maryanne Amacher, Eliane Radigue, Philippe Petit-adjacent collaborators; and interdisciplinary collectives and labels such as Kompakt (label), Raster-Noton, Ninja Tune, Warp (record label), and Morr Music. Site-specific and large-scale premieres have included works by Tere O'Connor-linked choreographers, audiovisual commissions with filmmakers who screened at Berlinale, and immersive light-sound pieces by designers who have worked for Walt Disney Concert Hall and Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Recordings and Releases

The festival has produced archival releases, live albums, and compilations on labels and imprints associated with its curators and participants, including editions on Raster-Noton, Staalplaat, Touch (label), PAN Records, Touch and Go Records, and bespoke limited editions through partnerships with MUTE Records and small presses linked to Sonic Pieces. Live documentation has been issued as vinyl, CD, and digital formats, and collaborative releases have featured mastering engineers who worked at Abbey Road Studios and Electric Lady Studios. Curated compilations commonly include artists represented by 4AD, Matador Records, and Sacred Bones Records, contributing to cross-continental distribution and archival projects in collaboration with British Library sound archives and Berlin-based repositories.

Influence and Legacy

The festival’s influence extends across nodes of contemporary experimental practice, impacting venue programming models at places like Berghain, Montreux Jazz Festival offshoots, and academic curricula at Goldsmiths and University of California, San Diego. Its revival catalyzed renewed interest in site-specific sound work, informing commissions at institutions including Hayward Gallery, MoMA, and Centre Pompidou. The festival contributed to the careers of artists who later exhibited at Venice Biennale, received awards such as the Golden Lion (Venice) and Turner Prize-adjacent recognition, and shaped label strategies among Warp, Ninja Tune, and Raster-Noton. As an incubator, it fostered networks linking European, North American, African, and Asian experimental scenes, influencing festivals such as Mutek, CTM Festival, Unsound Festival, and MaerzMusik, and informing sound studies scholarship at institutions like MIT and Princeton University.

Category:Music festivals in Berlin