Diane Barbé

Weaving together experimental music, biophonic research and activism, Diane Barbé searches for forms of interspecies resonance. Her electronic works incorporate elements of drone and microtonality, oscillating between oneiric lightness and dystopia, often paired with flutes and field recordings, sometimes leaning into dub pulsations. Diane is currently creating an ensemble of wind instruments, percussions, bird calls and little sound devices, called The Alien Kin, that are used for musicking in open air, with and beyond human audiences. Diane is engaged in many forms of collaborations with dancers, dreamers, whistlers, image-makers, performers, writers, and other kinds of creatures.

@diane.isadora
dianediane (a) gmx.net

exhibitions & residencies (selected)

2023 – The Alien Kin – Synthesis & Mimicry – INA-GRM Acousmonium, Paris, France
Residency and peformance on the spatial soundsystem ‘acousmonium’ of the GRM in Paris.

2022 – Shifting Conversations – Dokumenta 15, Kassel, Germany
Residency and performance at the Zukunftsdorf of Dokumenta 15 in a 360 sound dome with Laure Boer and Kirstine Kjeldsen.

2022 – Vogelklang – Global Forest e.V., Sankt Georgen im Schwarzwald, Germany
Residency and performance at multidisciplinary arts festival focused on bio-acoustics of local birds, production of whistles, flutes and bird calls for the ‘Alien Kin’ project.

2021 – Harmonic Arborealism – Climate Care Festival – floating university, Berlin, Germany
Residency and instrument building with Vilte Gustyte at the floating university Berlin dedicated to the trunk-specific harmonic series of an oak tree. Creation of the long string instrument (23m strings).

2021 – The Enclosed Garden – Heroines’Wave nomadic residency – Bangkok, Thailand
Feminist residency and multidisciplinary performance curated by Célia Stroom, Bussaraporn Thongchai & Diane Barbé with 12 Thai and international artists.

2020 – The Fingers of the Air – DAAD Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Group exhibition based on materials from Georgian filmmaker Salomé Jashi’s most recent documentary film (forthcoming). Sound installation.

2020 – SWARM.7 – passing one loop into another – n.b.k., Berlin, Germany
Online sound piece realised in the context of Natascha Sadr Haghighian’s exhibition at the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), which focuses on the Asian tiger mosquito. Multiloop online piece.

2019 – The Enclosed Garden – Heroines’Wave nomadic residency – Tbilisi, Georgia
Feminist residency and multidisciplinary performance curated by Célia Stroom & Salomé Jashi with 12 Georgian and international artists.

2019 – Amplify Berlin #11 with Andrea Belfi – Berlin, Germany
Residency and mentorship with the drummer and electronic musician Andrea Belfi, organised by ACUD Macht Neu as part of the Amplify Berlin #11 programme.

2019 – Water – Sound – City, Zwitscher Maschine, Berlin, Germany
Group exhibition based on the physical, environmental and social relations of water in human settlements. Curated by Francisco Petrucci. Installation for a head and a water body.

film collaborations

House of Rooms (Germany, forthcoming)
dir. Alexander Pfander
prod. Pfanderfilm
location sound recording (independent feature film)

MOJO: episode 2 (UK/Germany, forthcoming)
dir. Franca Paschen
prod. Fusion Alpha
location sound recording (short series episode)

LIMINAL::. (Germany, forthcoming)
dir. Gabriel Vallecillo Márquez,
prod. neue häute e.V.
location sound recording & sound design (short dance and art film)

in-between (Germany, forthcoming)
dir. Azzie McCutcheon
prod. Lake Studios Berlin
sound design (short dance and art film)

Krise ist immer (Germany, 2020)
dir. Dan Dansen
prod. Bikepunk Productions
location sound recording

Alguma Coisa Assim (Germany / Brazil, 2017)
dir. Esmir Filho & Mariana Bastos
Zak Film Productions UG, Claraluz Filmes, Saliva Shots
location sound assistance

Publications

Things don’t really exist until you give them a name: Unpacking urban heritage (2018)
Rachel Lee, Diane Barbé, Anne-Katrin Fenk & Philipp Misselwitz (eds). Mkuki na Nyota, Dar es Salaam.

Talking Cities: Urban Narratives from Dar es Salaam (2017)
Diane Barbé, Richard Besha, Anne-Katrin Fenk, Rachel Lee & Philipp Misselwitz (eds). Technische Universitätsverlag, Berlin.