It’s September 11. Very cold morning in Berlin.
Instead of taking a Lime, I took an Uber and drove to the morning sound check.
As I was approaching the Hamburger Bahnhof, I saw Sergio coming towards me from the other side. This time, he had gone beyond my expectations with his daytime outfit – and a jacket that had four sleeves instead of two. When I asked him what that was, pointing at his jacket, he said:
One hand is never enough. Four are ok.
With him was a charismatic guy I was seeing for the first time. His name was Vinicius Vallorani, whom I immediately renamed Omnicius because his aura was so bright and expansive that it didn’t take me long to give him another name, or rather, another surname.
The technicians were setting up the sound system. Meanwhile, I went to lie down on the square concrete pavement in front of the Hamburger Bahnhof, in my performative horizontal body position.
I tested the microphone, we added a little reverb, and the soundcheck was over very quickly.
Then Sergio and I started discussing what we should put underneath me, because the ground was concrete and it was freezing, and I really didn’t want to get cystitis haha.
He told me he had a huge white Balenciaga jacket that we could try, and then we came up with the idea of buying a sleeping bag.
So we all gathered together and headed off to the outdoor shop. Bogdana joined us too.
When we got into the car, there was Cattelan’s catalogue from the exhibition inside.
Then Sergio told me that the day before, he had seen Cattelan during the day because he had taken Valentina Magaletti to see the exhibition. He recounted the whole story to me, how they had ran into Cattelan there, and apparently they had an amazing time. At one point, Cattelan asked Valentina who her favourite drum player was.
She told him. Cattelan immediately pulled up the drummer’s YouTube channel on his phone and started playing it for them. And they happily listened to Valentina’s favourite drummer right there in the Neue Nationalgalerie until, at some point, security or the curator Lisa came over to tell them that they couldn’t do that.
But I don’t think Cattelan would be Cattelan if he didn’t do exactly the opposite of whatever anyone in a position of authority told him to do. So he continued listening to Valentina Magaletti’s favourite drummer right in the middle of the Neue Nationalgalerie.
When he finished recounting the whole story to me, I took a photograph of Sergio and Cattelan with the catalogue.
In the car, we listened to Kuboraum Sound Residency Vol. 2 while driving to a nearby outdoor and mountaineering equipment store.
We arrived just before 11, and they opened at 11, so we waited outside like a little pack until the doors opened.
Once inside, everyone went in their own direction to look at whatever interested them.
Then, at some point, we all gathered around the sleeping bags – which was, after all, the reason we had come.
We found a few we liked, and then I kept getting in and out of them while Sergio zipped and unzipped them around me.
Finally, we chose the right one.
Vinicius, being a visual artist, assisted with the colour selection.
We decided on green – like a forest – as an homage to the Japanese lullaby, which is actually about gratitude towards the mountain that protects the girl.
It was also an homage to the Hamburger Bahnhof, whose colours are green and purple.
So the decision was made.
We bought the sleeping bag and got back into the car.
In the end, Vinicius and I took photos of each other at the same time and sent them to Edo Monti at the same time, because we realized we had one person in common: Edo.
Sergio drove all of us around Berlin and we agreed to meet again at exactly 6 p.m. at the Bahnhof, a few hours later, before the whole event started.
I arrived on time.
I had travelled from the middle of nowhere – I had been at Reethaus for a Soundwalk Collective listening session with Sasha, and from there I took the metro and somehow made it to the Bahnhof exactly on time.
Sergio once again greeted me with his arms wide open, wearing a beautiful daytime outfit, and performed the ritual:
PAPI GUARDA x3
Then we all slowly started preparing. I went to check my sleeping bag and microphone.
Luckily, I asked for one more quick soundcheck, because it turned out that when I sang there was serious microphone feedback – something that hadn’t happened during the morning rehearsal.
So I decided to surrender to a higher power. I switched off the microphone and thought:
Okay. Whatever happens, happens. Then we went backstage – or, more precisely, into the green room, the office space of the curatorial team at the Bahnhof.
There were healthy snacks, fruit and alcoholic drinks. I was especially happy to see dried plums, because they are very good for hungry vocal cords.
So I sat there in a semi-reclining position, quietly doing my TM practice before the performance. In the next room, Kiani del Valle was also getting ready for her performance.
She was speaking Spanish with her mother, I think, and it was so sweet to hear them talking from the room next door.
Then the time for our performance slowly approached. Kiani was first. I was after her.
Mika came to help her with her costume, which was not easy to put on, especially around the fingers.
Then the event began. The garden was full of people.
I went into my horizontal position, while Kiani was sitting high up on the balcony terrace, from where she began her performance.
Her performance ended with ovations, and then, almost imperceptibly, I entered.
Not physically. With my voice. There was a single light spot directed towards me.
I closed my eyes and entered my own sonic dimension. When I opened my eyes, I saw phones pointed at me from the horizontal position, still recording.
People didn’t know whether it was the end or the beginning of something new. Soon they realized that it was, in fact, the end. I didn’t move from my place.
I remained there like a sonic, immobile sculpture. Only later, when the crowd had dispersed, did I emerge from my sleeping bag. It looked like a caterpillar that had released a butterfly. A beautiful allegory.
Then Sergio came to me and brought me my shoes and jacket so I could get dressed.
He hugged me tightly and said: THIS WAS THE EPIC ENDING WE’VE HAD SO FAR.
Then messages started arriving on WhatsApp from all the friends who had been at the performance – Mimi, Boya, Dina, Diego, Zorica, Tessa, Vivian, Ana, Bojan etc.
I felt peaceful, like as usual after my performances and sonic situations, like this one.
We took the elevator backstage to change and collect our things, because by 10 p.m. we all had to leave the Bahnhof, according to German protocol.
Slowly, we all started dissolving and going our separate ways. Mimi and Boya were waiting for me outside.
I was still in my vow of silence. Before and after my performances, I don’t speak. I preserve the energy, the inner state, the condition I am in, and allow it to last.
At some point, we all said goodbye and hugged – Kiani, Mika and her mother, Erica, Sergio, Diana, Ana, Vinicius and everyone else.
Each of us went in a different direction. Boya, Mimi and I walked down the dark street, where Diego was waiting for us with a friend whose name I have forgotten. I only remember that he was a dramaturg from the Schaubühne theatre.
We stood there waiting for an Uber for about twenty minutes because there were five of us, so we ordered a larger one. Diego entertained us the entire time with his sense of humour, speaking English with a Spanish accent.
He is, by the way, a count. With a brilliant mind and an absolutely unmatched sense of humour. They were talking while I remained in my vow of silence, simply listening and laughing. And then, while we were waiting for the Uber, a green Range Rover appeared from the parking area.
Sergio was driving. Vinicius was sitting beside him. Diana, Anai and Bogdana were in the back. And from the car came, once again, more or less, the Japanese lullaby that I had recorded a cappella for the Kuboraum Sound Residency Vol. 2.
It was another moment of epic proportions. Sergio opened the window and the rear door, and the sound of my recorded voice singing the lullaby a cappella began spreading through the street. And then, at one point, I opened my mouth and started singing along with myself in unison.
The most poetic moment of the evening. Vinicius captured that magical moment from inside the car. I hope I get to see that recording one day.
But even if I never do, that moment will remain inside me forever.
I love Berlin.
I love Kuboraum.
I love Sergio.
