Barcelona

Since 2013 in Le Havre, marine creatures have been leaving the murky waters to gradually colonise the urban landscape… Beyond the element of surprise and the questions these strange animals may raise among passers-by, the aim is to breathe new life into naturalist drawing (rarely seen in museums, as it remains undervalued) and to play on the ambiguity between science and art. By displaying crustaceans, molluscs and often uncommon fish, they are given a chance to reveal their beauty to the wider public. The choice of walls is by no means arbitrary: colour, texture, format, exposure and location all add a new dimension to each illustration.

Emmanuelle and Ghislain will share with the audience their experience as co-founders and co-directors of a deep-sea scientific expedition program. They will focus in particular on Under The Pole’s latest expedition, conducted in the Antarctic Peninsula from December 2025 to March 2026, in collaboration with the CNRS as part of the DeepLife scientific program. The conference will be followed by a book signing session for their new book, "Sub Antarctica,"which recounts this extraordinary adventure.

Imagine a film about police brutality, with no brutality. A film where nothing happens, yet you’re left baffled. Invisible violence, disguised under lawful humiliation. Domination wrapped in polite protocols. I started talking about making this short film back in 2018, but the idea of it was haunting me, probably since the late 90s, when I started being constantly stopped by the police for “random identity checks”. I felt a certain urgency to tell this very personal story.

JOKKOO Soundsystem originated in parties in the squares of Barcelona and, despite going global, aims to stay true to its roots by creating accessible spaces to share black experimental and electronic music and exchange effervescent energies with the audience.

Plastic Affair emerged from my experience as a diver in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, where I have witnessed the growing presence of plastic pollution, even in protected waters. Triggered by images of marine life entangled in plastic waste, the performance examines the complex relationship between human activity and the natural world. Through movement, it invites audiences to consider how everyday actions shape the environments we inhabit. It is a solo performance in dialogue with a light plastic tarpaulin, a material that is as hypnotic as it is dangerous. Dance workshops will be offered in connection with the performance.

Fouad Boussouf's works sit at the meeting point of hip-hop, contemporary, and traditional practices. A teacher as much as a choreographer, he gives transmission a fundamental place. Each piece is conceived together with its accompanying set of practical workshops open to all audiences. These allow the works to be experienced differently, extending the spectator's experience and enriching it. °Up is no exception and can be adapted in many forms.

The proposal is entitled In the Depths and takes the form of a performative lecture. It begins with the real history of the Atlantic as a space of violence and memory: the slave trade, ports with a Black presence in Spain (Barcelona, Seville, Cadiz), and how this past has been silenced or fragmented. From there, it takes a creative leap into the realm of the imaginary: how artists such as Drexciya have paved the way for thinking about the ocean not only as a tomb, but also as an archive, as a place of possibilities and future.

Inspired by Nkisi’s ongoing research into the ethnographic music archives (1893 till present), ‘Serpent Songs’ invokes the serpentine movements of sound and the migratory paths of its vibrations. The musical composition delves into the psycho-acoustics inherited from ancient musical traditions. Here, music emerges as an enchanted consciousness; a vessel for its mythopoetic remembrance. Inspired by the primordial snake ancestors of these ancient traditions who shaped landscapes, rivers, and hills, ‘Serpent Songs' traces the trails of music they left behind.