The c.sides festival for independent electronic music and new media arts, held from August 29-31 in Jerusalem, was the brainchild of two counter-culture renaissance persons – one Israeli and one German. Ronni Shendar, aka Macaroni, and Till Rohmann, teamed up as curators, creating a “formal platform for the exchange of ideass on an artistic and professional level. Also between critical and independent producers, too,” she said in an interview. But the program was more than just music performances and art installations. “We also tried to make this an educational process that would bring together fringe groups and community leaders to discuss current politics, public reception and ideas concerning the role of art in society, on being a responsible member of society,” said Macaroni of the inclusion of a daily panel discussion with the themes of Sustainability and Support, Generation c – fighting for our own vocabulary and Culture, Art, Politics and Social Change.
The festival’s location at the historic Khan theatre in Jerusalem was as interesting as the event itself. A catacomb-like room housed the indoor stage and the outdoor one was in the courtyard of the 19th century Ottoman structure located near Jerusalem’s Old City. According to the festival’s website, which contained English, German, Hebrew and Arabic versions, the theater was restored in the late 60’s to serve as a cultural center for the performing arts.
Macaroni and Rohmann’s history seems the perfect lead-in to their work. The two met while Macaroni was in Germany on an exchange program and Rohmann was looking for a way to come to Israel as a techno producer and DJ. Specifically, Macaroni said, “he was looking for an alternative manner to come and perform here that would be non-commercial and also relate to historical and contemporary issues.” Successful in his desires, Rohmann performed numerous times in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and eventually became a part of the independent electronic scene in the capital.
Over the two-year span of their collaboration, Macaroni and Rohmann brought dozens of European and North American artists to perform in Israel with local collectives and alternative clubs. The arrangement was an exchange that sent Israeli artists abroad to Germany as well.
Macaroni is sure that making the festival happen was well worth it, despite the sacrifice of much sleep and personal savings, to supplement Israeli and German grant funding. “I think it would be quite amazing if one day c.sides could be listed as one of the more better known indie festivals for electronic music world wide,” Macaroni said of her future aspirations for the festival. She adds that then “people would take more interest in the producing community and get to know Israel/Palestine through culture and personal experiences rather than shallow discussions and media coverage.”
