Berlin School of Sound & Goethe‑Institut in Exile
present

Mapping Sounds Logo

The second edition of the festival Mapping Sounds in Exile presents 3 days of concerts, performances, a film screening and listening session with musicians from Ukraine, Belarus, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria-Germany and Iran-Denmark.

July 2nd - July 5th 2025
Kunsthaus ACUD, Veteranenstr. 21, Berlin-Mitte

DAY 1:
Wednesday, July 2nd

Listening Session + Concerts
@ACUDCLUB


tickets

DAY 2:
Thursday, July 3rd

Workshop + Concerts
@ACUDCLUB


tickets

DAY 3:
Saturday, July 5th

Film Screening, Performance + DJ Sets
@ACUDCLUB @ACUDkino


tickets

Tickets for performances: €5
Tickets for film screening: €3


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Mapping Sounds in Exile 2025:

Concerts, Performances, Listening Sessions and Film Screening

Goethe-Institut in Exile and Berlin School of Sound present the three-day festival Mapping Sounds in Exile at Kunsthaus ACUD in Berlin-Mitte. On July 2, 4 and 5, musicians from Ukraine, Belarus, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria-Germany and Iran-Denmark invite you to concerts, performances, listening sessions and a film screening.

Although the musicians, who are often affected by the loss of their homeland, come from different parts of the world, they are united in many ways by questions of resistance, migration, (non-)arrival and memory. Music serves them all as a source and point of contact in moments of disorientation. The musicians may have had to leave their contexts of origin, but their musical traditions and conventions survive in the sound reservoir of their own work.

The musicians, most of whom now live in Berlin, supplement their sonic repertoire with the experience of new contexts. Mapping Sounds in Exile therefore not only draws a map of political crisis locations, but above all an atlas of diverse musical traditions that assert and expand themselves beyond borders. The festival aims to showcase the diverse styles and influences of pop musicians who have experienced ruptures and new beginnings. The aim is to strengthen their visibility and promote transnational networking.


Program:


DAY 1
Wednesday, July 2nd
Listening Session + Concerts


Resonant Listening Session

19:00 | LISTENING SESSION
RESONANT LISTENING with Nour Sokhon, Chikiss, Anna Sharifi

In many cultures, music plays a vital role in preserving memory — not only through written notation, but through embodied traditions passed down across generations. Especially in times of war, displacement, and political upheaval, when material cultural artifacts are at risk of destruction, music endures as a powerful medium for remembrance, resistance, and identity. Resonant Listening is a listening session where displaced musicians and musicologists share up to three songs of personal or political significance, offering reflections on how these sounds function as emotional soundtracks to the past and foundational anchors for the future. Through radical and deep listening practices, the event explores how music creates comfort, fosters belonging, and addresses political struggle, turning the act of listening itself into a political gesture. These sessions highlight the cultural and emotional weight of sound within diverse communities, culminating in concerts and a growing playlist archive that not only honors individual histories but also reinforces music’s role as a unifying, community-building force across borders.

Photo of DONBASGRL

20:30 | Live Set
Donbasgrl (Ukraine)

DONBASGRL is a Ukrainian avant-pop artist based in Berlin. Deep bass and Ukrainian folklore characterize her sound. Originally from a small industrial mining town in eastern Ukraine, she has been living in Germany for ten years. Her music is intended to encourage, make a feminist statement and fight for self-realization. "This is not just a new project. It's the result of my decision to stay. And to live". DONBASGRL represents a cheeky, courageous girl who demonstrates self-realization and female strength in a modern, artistic way – and in Ukrainian. With the first music video “Zbroya” she was invited to perform at ESNS 2025.

Listen on Spotify Watch on Youtube Photo of Anna Sharifi

21:30 | Live Set
Anna Sharifi (Iran-Denmark)

Anna Sharifi is a genre-defying producer, live performer, and vocalist whose music fuses pulsating electronic beats with raw, emotionally charged storytelling. Based in Berlin and shaped by her Iranian-Danish roots, she creates immersive sonic landscapes where techno, synth-pop, and experimental club textures converge with a powerful narrative sensibility. Sharifi’s sound is often guided by personal and cultural themes—touching on notions of movement, identity, and in-betweenness—woven into driving rhythms, haunting vocals, and richly layered productions. Each track becomes both a dancefloor experience and an introspective journey. On stage, she combines analog synths, vocal looping, and dynamic arrangements to create live sets that are both rhythmically engaging and emotionally resonant. Whether in underground clubs or experimental art spaces, her performances blur the lines between concert, ritual, and reflection.

Listen on Soundcloud Listen on Bandcamp


DAY 2
Thursday, July 3rd
Workshop + Concerts


Workshop

14:00-15:30 | Workshop
Touring Artists: Working as a Freelancer in Music – conducted by Felix Sodemann and Daniel Lindenblatt

In this special festival session, we delve into the world of working as a freelance musician. What does working as a freelance musician in Berlin or Germany entail? How can you set up the most basic administrative infrastructure, such as writing invoices and preparing tax reports? What business expenses can musicians claim? Why should you join the KSK? Why is it important to have a service contract (Wahrnehmungsvertrag) with the collecting societies GEMA and GVL? Where are the best networking opportunities, and what should you pay attention to when setting up your own structure (e.g. a music label)? In this short workshop, we will provide some general advice on how to navigate the bureaucratic landscape and demonstrate solutions to common challenges.

About touring artists:

Raised in Cologne, Felix Sodemann landed in Berlin after spending time in Tübingen and Turkey and studying German and Literary Studies. Since 2019, he has been working at the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute, where he leads the projects and Shaping Crossroads and is responsible for various conference and event formats. In addition, he works as an independent theatre and film maker as well as a translator.

Daniel Lindenblatt is a versatile musician, guitarist, producer, cultural manager and trained musicologist. As an ‘enabler’ of culture, he has already managed non-profit youth music projects, organised vernissages and supervised an orchestral production at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Since 2016, Daniel Lindenblatt has headed the Berlin Jazztreff at the Landesmusikrat Berlin e.V. - an annual forum to promote up-and-coming jazz musicians and to network the scene. In 2022/2023, he was involved in setting up the Brexit Infopoint in the touring artists advisory network, which supports international cultural professionals with administrative issues relating to exchanges with the UK. He currently advises newly arrived musicians on topics such as visas, taxes, artists' social security and orientation in the Berlin music scene in the project Musikarbeitsmarkt Transnational.



CONCERTS: NOUR SOKHON + CHIKISS
PATTERNS OF NOSTALGIA AND SONIC MEMORY

How do we relate to our memories and the feelings they evoke, and how can sound translate personal experiences? In a time marked by separation and fear, listening becomes an essential act—connecting diverse realities and transmitting emotions on a deeply embodied and universal level beyond words. Existential lyricism intertwines with haunting cinematic soundscapes and field recordings, which capture and preserve places and moments, offering sonic escapes and spaces for reflection about belonging and melancholia. Sampling acts as sonic archaeology, enabling artistic research in pursuit of home and archiving feelings of belonging. Through site-specific interventions, installations, experimental sounds, multimedia practices, DIY approaches, synth-pop, electroacoustic textures, and minimalist electronics, the artists of this evening explore sound as a material deeply connected to space, place, memory, and identity.



Photo of Nour Sokhon

20:00 | Live Set
Nour Sokhon (Lebanon)

Nour Sokhon is a Lebanese artist based in Berlin. Her practice explores artistic research through interviews, field recordings, and site-specific interventions, translated into sound compositions, performance, installation, and moving image works. She received the Emerging Artist Prize at Sursock Museum (2019) and the Sound Art 2020 scholarship from HBK. Her debut album Beirut Birds was released in 2024 with AFAC’s support. She has exhibited at festivals like Punkt, Gaudeamus, and Biennale d’Aix, and in institutions such as SAVVY Contemporary, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter and Beirut Art Center.

Listen on Bandcamp

Photo of Chikiss

21:00 | Live Set
Chikiss (Belarus)

Chikiss is a Belarusian-born singer, composer and producer. Embracing music as an ongoing artistic journey, she has evolved from her roots in post-punk and experimental rock to a distinctive sound that blends synth-pop, minimalist electronics, and electro-acoustic textures – often enriched with noir-jazz undertones. Her work draws inspiration from Soviet cinematic and pop experiments, as well as the haunting atmospheres of David Lynch soundtracks, all interwoven with powerful and existential lyricism. Chikiss has released numerous albums and collaborated with artists including Dorit Chrysler, Eva Geist, Jaakko Eino Kalevi, Die Wilde Jagd, Plattenbau and many more. Her signature use of unique samples and a DIY approach to music production position her as a standout voice in the contemporary avant-pop landscape.

Listen on Bandcamp


DAY 3
Saturday, July 5th
EMBODIED LISTENING
Film Screening, Performance + DJ Sets


Queer Exile Berlin

17:00 | Film Screening
Queer Exile Berlin (Dir. Jochen Hick, FRG 2023, 105 min.) + Q&A after the screening with The Darvish

Focusing on today’s queer life in Berlin, Queer Exile Berlin is the third part of a queer Berlin documentary trilogy by director Jochen Hick following Out in East Berlin (2013) and My Wonderful West-Berlin (2017). The film interweaves the personal stories and ambitions of six queer protagonists in their Berlin exile with historical events and every day issues. The result is a true picture of Berlin as a perpetual place of longing and a challenge for all those who immerse themselves extensively and unconditionally in the queer universe that is constantly reinventing itself in Berlin. A city in constant flux that has become home to a multitude of identities - with gay and lesbian being just two terms among many - that seek alternatives to the heteronormative lifestyle.

Missing Films Website Interview w/ Jochen Hick Photo of The Darvish

21:00 | Performance
The Darvish (Syria)

The Darvish is a non-binary Syrian self taught dancer, cultural events and performance parties organizer. After immigrating to Berlin in 2016 The Darvish started exploring gender identities and artistic expressions and more so, questioning the relationship between social boundaries and performance art. Their persona was portrayed in local and international articles and magazines such as Reuters, DW World, BBC World and many others. They're the co-author of ZUGZWÄNGE Anthology Book which handles the stories of a group of activists, refugees, artists, community changers and writerss, as well a contributor to the book THIS IS EUROPE by Ben Judah. The Darvish is currently writing an inclusive educational children's story book.

Watch on Youtube Website Photo of Acidfinky

22:00 | DJ Set
Acidfinky (Algeria-Germany)

Acidfinky is a German-Algerian DJ and producer who grew up in France. Currently based in Berlin, she holds a residency at Golden Pudel Club in Hamburg. Acidfinky has become a staple in the Berlin circuit since her debut at Paloma Bar in March 2022 and is no stranger to clubs like OHM, Globus, Renate and OXI to Krake Festival. Acidfinky is a founding member of the feminist collective BLVSH - a platform and network dedicated to promoting FLINTA-talents. In 2023 she founded her own label Twisting Knobs Records - releasing a full spectrum of dance music taking in breaks and electro to experimental, dub and leftfield. With her sets to be discovered on platforms like Refuge Worldwide, Rinse FM and Mutant Radio: Acidfinky bridges the gap between nostalgic, retro-active sounds and cutting edge club sonics.

Watch on Youtube Listen on SoundCloud Photo of Hassandra

24:00 | DJ Set
Hassandra (Lebanon)

Hassandra is a Berlin-based Lebanese multidisciplinary artist and DJ. They hold a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre and Stage Acting from the Lebanese University in Beirut, where they were born and raised. In 2019, Hassandra won the title of Mx. Kotti, and has since been active in the Berlin free-art scene. Hassandra's theatrical work mixes drag, movement performance and multimedia art. Their practice deals with topics, such as home-searching, nostalgia and establishing a queer Arab* archive. Hassandra is the co-founder of ADIRA Party, Critical Queer Solidarity e.V. and ADIRA Drag Festival.

Listen on SoundCloud Watch on Youtube