“It’s pretty self-explanatory. Azadi, freedom. Freedom for everyone. Freedom for us, freedom for the artists” says Mo regarding the name of one of India’s freshest independent labels, ‘Azadi Records’.

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“I think it all depends on what you want to express through your art,” says Berlin-based French DJ and producer David Monnin as he explains why the identity of a being has both creative and an anti-creative influence in the process of making art. “You can’t ever completely dissolve your identity. Most of us have grown up within a social and cultural universe that we can’t really escape. Even if you manage to dissolve it for a short moment, it will always come back and leave a mark on your work.”

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Image credit: Brenda Alamilla

A few months ago, Ujjwal Agarwal and Eric Erre found themselves living in the same house in Kreuzberg, Berlin, owned by Andi Teichmann, one-half of  Gebrüder Teichmann. Agarwal — also known as Kala/Kalab — was there for two months, from April till June, as part of the Border Movement Residency. Erre, a visual artist from Mexico with a strong DIY aesthetic, was in town having been invited to do the visuals for a gig held to launch the ‘Karachi Files’ album, released by the label NOLAND.

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Image credit: Kala

Functioning right alongside the grand theatre of Kala’s music is a clever sense of restraint. Sprightly, intermittent bursts of machismo are almost instantly undercut by minimalist textural movement within the music. …

We were overwhelmed with the number of applications received from around the region for the first edition of BMR: Berlin. A residency program with a difference that will cater to the individual needs of artists using the wealth of experience and contacts by their hosts in Berlin.

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