Utrecht’s Le Guess Who? is gearing up for its 13th edition, running from 7-10 November this year, and the first big announcement of 2019 is here.
Every year, Le Guess Who? invites a few artists as co-curators, to help shape and enrich the festival with hand picked selections which reflect their own interests. Today, the organisers have revealed their guest curators for this year. Fatoumata Diawara, Jenny Hval, Patrick Higgins, The Bug, Moon Duo, and Iris van Herpen & Salvador Breed, will all be involved in programming, with free reign to invite their own favourite and like-minded artists. With the exception of Iris van Herpen and Salvador Breed, all the curators will also be performing themselves. They join an impressive list of past Le Guess Who? curators, which last year included Shabaka Hutchings, Devendra Banhart and Moor Mother.
Known as one of Mali’s most inventive artists, Grammy-nominated musician Fatoumata Diawara is not only notable for her talent as a singer, songwriter and guitarist but also as an actress, activist and defender of women rights and social justice. Involved in a variety of projects, Fatoumata has recorded and performed with a multitude of artists, including fellow Mali artists Amadou & Mariam and Oumou Sangaré, Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, Bobby Womack, Damon Albarn and Herbie Hancock, amongst many more. Her music draws from her roots while looking to the future. The festival notes that artists related to Afrocubism and Afrofuturism will be the core of her curatorial selections.
Jenny Hval’s performances and artistic output embraces a variety of arts forms and vehicles for expression, from poetry and music, to performance art, and film. As a true multidisciplinary artist, who has previously graced Le Guess Who? stages, it is fitting that in 2019 the Norwegian musician and writer should curate her own programme.
Following his colossal performance with the string ensemble of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra at Le Guess Who? in 2017, avant-garde composer, guitarist, and producer Patrick Higgins returns to the festival as a guest curator. A creative visionary, known for his membership in New York noise-rock band Zs, Higgins has an impressive solo and collaborative discography under his belt, having also composed for several renowned ensembles and soloists. We’re looking forward to seeing what his line-up will be.
Prolific British musician and producer Kevin Martin aka The Bug is a legend in his own lifetime, counting a plethora of musical projects. With a career spanning over twenty years and more than 150 recordings in many different genres, The Bug came to existence in the 90’s, first as a dub-oriented project before turning to Jamaican dancehall and similar genres like grime and dubstep.
Psych-kraut stalwarts Moon Duo first came into being in 2009 in San Francisco as a side project collaboration between Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson and keyboardist Sanae Yamada. Ten years on, the duo have released several studio albums, EPs and singles. The duality between light and darkness is central to their most recent album, Occult Architecture, a double cosmic voyage that sees them exploring new textures and sounds.
A trailblazer in the world of fashion, Dutch designer and couturier Iris van Herpen has her foot in the future, mixing fashion and technology, in particular 3D printing to create her own garments. Together with her partner, sound artist Salvador Breed, they will curate a programme reflecting their aesthetics.
We’ll have to wait a little longer for the curated picks and the full festival line-up to be announced but if past editions are anything to go by, we can already be sure of one thing: it will be unmissable!
Le Guess Who? 2019 takes place from 7-10 November, in various idyllic venues throughout the city of Utrecht. 4-Day Festival Passes are currently available until May 2nd for €123,00. Find tickets and more information at www.leguesswho.com. Read our review of last year’s edition.
