Theatre of War

The noise of military campaigns, machine guns and bombs has always fascinated musicians and composers. Songs against violence? Subcultural noise as an alternative to propaganda? Parodies of dictators and warmongers? Every artistic counter-position is threatened with a label: Naïve activism! Opportunism! In an old shooting range, Norient stages music videos and sound art that address war experiences, violence and trauma. In podcasts, artists from Israel, Palestine and Serbia talk about their artistic visions and ask about the ethical boundaries when war samples become sound art. Norient searches worldwide for new music, sounds and noises. It discusses current positions in the music world critically, from different perspectives and close to the musicians. With the online magazine, the music film festival, performances, lectures, books and exhibitions, Norient aims to simultaneously orient and disorient the public. Founded in 2002 by ethnomusicologist Thomas Burkhalter, Norient is a treasure trove of challenging artistic positions in our globalized and digitalized world. The core team works in Bern and the network extends to over fifty countries.