The Politics of Breathing features Elaine Mitchener and Dirar Kalash performing works that combine live electronics, the voice and the breath as a powerful singular force that transcend the individual body—channeling collective will towards freedom and justice.
'When we revolt it’s not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe.' -- Frantz Fanon
Dirar Kalash is a Palestinian musician and sound artist whose work spans a wide range of musical and sonic practices within a variety of instrumental, compositional and improvisational contexts. He is mostly known for his politically driven soundscape / electro-acoustic project "The Sonic Front", and the compositions "we can't breathe (for Eric Garner, George Floyd, and Frantz Fanon)" and "By Any Means Necessary (for Malcolm X)"
Elaine Mitchener is a veteran of vocal expression in the global Black Avant Garde, traversing free improvisation, cross-disciplinary music theatre and contemporary composition with clarity and joy. Her debut album SOLO THROAT released in May 2024 under Café Oto’s OTORUKO label has been described as “An uncompromisingly imaginative approach to text that does credit to the power of the human voice, as well as the mind that pushes it on to previously unheard paths.” (Jazzwise) www.elainemitchener.com
