When the first qraqeb sounds on the roof of the HKW at the end of June, the Sonic Pluriverse Festival begins. This year’s program is dedicated to Gnawa traditions, a music and ritual practice rooted in West African migration history. Across five weekends, Gnawa ensembles meet desert blues, flamenco, tarantella, and other sonic worlds. Among those performing are Vieux Farka Touré, Baaba Maal & Daande Leñol, Asmaa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou, Bab L’Bluz, and the Garifuna Collective. The concerts, workshops, and talks open up new perspectives: connections between Gnawa and Yoruba traditions, transatlantic religious and musical practices, and the question of why repetitive rhythms can induce trance-like states. Particularly striking is the nocturnal Lila ceremony in mid-July at Savvy Contemporary, where music, ritual, and collective experience merge until the early hours of the morning. Those who prefer to start dancing earlier can join the Gnawa parade across the HKW grounds at the opening, or later find their rhythm at DJ sets by Kabylie Minogue, Kawtar Sadik, Zine & Siroko.
Text: Inga Krumme / Photos: Lais Pereira, Jeremy Lewis, Mathias Voelzke
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin–Tiergarten; map
Sonic Pluriverse Festival 06.–08.2026. Find the full program here.
@hkw_berlin
