Bela

6 MARCH h 21:30
In collaboration with The Listeners and Combo - Torino
Combo, Corso Regina Margherita 128
BELA
A ritual for queer rage and grief

Originally from Paju South Korea, bela (they/them) is a musician and a performance artist based in Berlin. They are known for electronic music performance merging pungmul - a Korean folk act rooted in agricultural traditions and linked to past social  movements - and vocals inspired by extreme metal. bela shapes pungmul into the ritual for queer rage and grief with sub- heavy distortions and cries.  

Their LP “Noise and Cries”, co-released on Subtext UK and Unsound PL in April 2024, debuts their raw vocals for the first time. Spanning over 5 avant-garde basement experiments and 2 grounding lengthy ambient scenes, it comprises a fierce reflection on the precarity of life back in South Korea, queer identity, severance of relationships, and endurance.  An album where bela references Jungtaryeong, two well-known arias from the Korean pansori tradition, repurposing them to highlight the hypocrisy and brutality of patriarchal wisdom; they split their pneumatic beat with elements of hwimori and dongsalpuri, two more traditional rhythms, and use these elements to anchor words that deconstruct the reality of the narak - the infinite abyss in the Buddhist worldview.

bela was nominated for the SHAPE+ Platform 23'-24'. They have presented their solo and collaborative works across different stages and festivals in Europe including Berghain (DE), Cafe OTO (UK), CTM Festival(DE), Unsound Kraków(PL), and Rewire Festival(NL).