tekhnē

Two winning CTM 2025 Radio Lab projects have been selected from over 300 entries from artists in 53 different countries. The two winning projects will premiere at CTM 2025, with subsequent radio broadcasts via Deutschlandfunk Kultur and ORF in spring and autumn 2025 respectively.

A project by Deutschlandfunk Kultur – Hörspiel / Klangkunst and CTM Festival in collaboration with Goethe-Institut, ORF Ö1 Kunstradio, the Radio Lab sought proposals relating to the festival theme »Sustain« that also engaged with the artistic possibilities of radio and live performance mediums. This year it is also presented within the framework of the sound art initiative tekhnė. The jury was composed of Talía Vega León (creative director Radical Sounds Latin America), Elisabeth Zimmerman (producer Kunst zum Hören, ORF), Marcus Gammel (head of drama, documentary, and radio art, Deutschlandfunk Kultur), and Jan Rohlf (co-founder and artistic director CTM Festival).

Yara Mekawei

»Sonic Forces«

The Egyptian composer Yara Mekawei will present a project that intricately weaves together personal, political, and sonic narratives. Her work navigates the complex emotions surrounding affection in the face of both internal and external conflict.

As a woman living in a society dominated by religious conservatism and patriarchal structures, Mekawei explores how affection can serve both as a sanctuary and a battleground. Set against the politically charged landscape of Egypt, where borders with Palestine, Libya, and Sudan represent sites of war and refuge, her project delves into the paradox of seeking safety amid deeper personal struggles. While the country serves as a place of refuge for those escaping violence and instability from neighboring regions, Mekawei’s work reveals that this safety is double-edged. Refugees may escape external danger, but they often face new struggles in a society that limits freedom of expression, especially for women.

Mekawei’s proposed work, »Sonic Forces,« unfolds through an aural exploration of these overlapping conflicts. By capturing field recordings from Egypt’s border regions—areas marked by the transition between war-torn zones and relative safety—she will create a soundscape that reflects this journey: the sounds of crossing points, refugee camps, and border towns transformed into a layered auditory landscape. Affection, typically seen as a space of care and refuge, becomes a complex and multifaceted theme here. Mekawei reimagines affection as both a source of comfort and a means of resistance. In the context of »Sonic Forces«, it operates within spaces of conflict—both external, where refugees seek safety, and internal, where Mekawei herself struggles to assert her artistic voice against societal restrictions. Her live performance will engage the audience in a dialogue between these external and internal borders, where affection is constantly redefined.

Lynn Nandar Htoo, rEmPiT g0dDe$$, Gabriel Htoo & Sarah Hanan

»Resonant Resilience«

»Resonant Resilience« delves into the transformative power of music as a means of resistance, resilience, unity, and healing, especially for Southeast Asian female and queer music practitioners.

Southeast Asia’s rich musical traditions have long been intertwined with its political and social history including queer histories, serving as a form of protest and unity. Whether it's through traditional folk songs, protest anthems, or contemporary pop music, music has been used to express shared identities and shared futures, challenge oppressive regimes, and nurture a sense of unity. With »Resonant Resilience,« Lynn Nandar Htoo and rEmPiT g0dDe$$ engage with this ongoing sonic history.

The performance will focus on the experiences of individuals displaced by the ongoing political turmoil in Myanmar and the harsh regulations faced by queer communities in Malaysia, giving voice to these struggles as a means of empowerment and healing. In »Resonant Resilience,« Lynn Nandar Htoo and rEmPiT g0dDe$$ explore resilience as a response to socio-political inequities disproportionately affecting Southeast Asian female and queer communities. While empowering, resilience can obscure the need for structural change, framing it instead as an active reclamation of agency that challenges systems perpetuating marginalisation.

A key part of the work are Htoo’s field recordings made in her home of Yangon, Myanmar, before fleeing the country due to the country’s ongoing and intensifying violence. In collaboration, the two artists will integrate these sounds with live integration of recorded traditional instruments and electronics. This fusion of natural soundscapes, classical analogue sounds, and digital elements will be enhanced by dynamic visual art created by the filmmaker Gabriel Htoo, highlighting the devastating impact of Myanmar’s political turmoil and the struggles of those caught in its path, and Sarah Hanan, who captures layers of repression, isolation, internalised shame, and enduring hope that mark the lives of queer identities in Southeast Asia.