‘Din is Discourse’ –Édouard Glissant

The Chaos Opera, draws on Édouard Glissant’s defense of chaos as a mechanism for coping with and embracing difference. The first workshop- Curated by Asad Raza, Rina Carvajal, Hans-Ulrich Obrist- commissioned by the Museum of Art and Design Miami in the context of the group show Where The Oceans Meet for brought together five voices from diverse backgrounds such as R&B, Bolero, Death Metal, Rap, and Opera and asks how different voices might cohabitate- literally and figuratively- the same space without capitulating, assimilating, or forcing a cohesion (as in ‘fusion’ music). How can different voices maintain their opacity (rather than the often idealized ‘harmony’) with each other, and how might this cacophony allow for new forms, voices, and hybrid languages to emerge?

Subsequent Workshops- Centre Pompidou x Jersey City, Canal Projects, 411, Performing Garage, Pioneer Works- have brought together vocalists with from all ranges of experience into the practice of singing together without singing the same.

In the coming years, the research from these workshops will be developed into a performance for 8 voices.