TECHNO WORLDS, a travelling exhibition organized by the Goethe-Institut, is currently on view in Colombo at the Rio Hotel & Cinema Complex until September 28, 2024.

The exhibition examines techno’s role as a transformative force in music history and its profound influence on contemporary culture, art, media and technology. Originating in Detroit in the 1980s, techno quickly expanded worldwide, influencing not just music but also design, fashion, and philosophy. It represents a way of life that transcends borders, reflecting various social,
economic, and political structures.

TECHNO WORLDS traces the evolution of techno and club culture through different eras, styles and global influences. The exhibition showcases diverse techno scenes, genres, and subcultural-political projects worldwide, featuring a curated selection of works by visual artists and musicians. The line-up includes photo, video and installation works that encapsulate the essence of techno as both a musical genre and a cultural phenomenon, exploring themes such as the history and sound of techno music, community networks, design and the underground rave culture. Curated by Mathilde Weh (Goethe-Institut), Justin Hofffman (Kunstverein Wolfsburg), and the Berlin collective Creamcake, TECHNO WORLDS will be shown in museums and exhibition venues worldwide until 2026 and invites visitors to engage with the soundscapes, visuals, and ideologies that have emerged from this ever-evolving genre.

In Sri Lanka, the exhibition highlights the local club culture with the addition of Pettah Interchange 2012-2016 which was an annual music and alternative culture Here’s what to catch at TECHNO WORLDS: an event that took place in abandoned and neglected urban spaces in Colombo since 2012. Speaking on the exhibit, the head of cultural programmes at Goethe-Institut, Jan Ramesh de Saram shared that, “TECHNO WORLDS attempts to give an overview of the vast influence Techno music has had on global youth culture over the last three decades by presenting the works of about 20 artists.

While some works explore the roots of Techno culture in Detroit, some give insight into early Techno fashion, others deal with myths of origin and focus on the communal experience of making and occupying abandoned or underused spaces. This also forms the connection to the section about Pettah Interchange, a club-culture initiative that was realized by the Goethe- Institut, Bordermovement and its partners in Colombo from 2012 until 2016 in spaces like: The Gaffour Building, Pettah Market, the Rio Cinema and the Transworks House.

A selection of photographs by Ruvin de Silva, Chintaka Thenuwara, Shehan Obeysekera, Thiva Arunagirinathan and Yanik Tissera installed on site, serve as windows into scenes of a Techno World that took place right here, in the very recent past. The Pettah Interchange exhibit drives home the fact that Techno culture is a truly global phenomenon spreading in an uneven timeline across the world.”

Here’s what to catch at TECHNO WORLDS:

13TH – 28 SEPTEMBER

EXHIBITION
Mon-Fri: 4pm – 8pm
Sat-Sun: 10am – 8pm
Rio Hotel & Cinema Complex
Catch the curated TECHNO WORLDS exhibit with works by Chicks On Speed, Tony Cokes, Zuzanna Czebatul, Deforrest Brown, Jr. & Abuqadim Haqq, Aleksandra Domanovic, Rangoato Hlasane, Ryōji Ikeda, Maryam Jafri, Robert Lippok, Mamba Negra, Henrike Naumann & Bastian Hagedorn, The Otolith Group, Carsten Nicolai, Daniel Pflumm, Sarah Schönfeld and Tobias Zielony.

20th – FRIDAY
FILM SCREENING – IF I THINK OF GERMANY AT NIGHT
7.00 PM | Goethe – Institut Colombo
Romuald Karmakar’s documentary If I Think of Germany At Night explores the world of electronic music through the lives of five DJ/producers. The film offers a mix of personal reflections, scenes from studios, clubs, and everyday life. It delves into music's cultural impact, from childhood memories to the evolution of electronic dance music. This is Karmakar's fourth documentary on techno, providing a comprehensive account of this evolving subculture and its global influences. Romuald Karmakar’s work has been honoured at major international film festivals and retrospectives and has won the DEFA-Foundation Award for outstanding achievement in German cinema in 2014.

21st – SATURDAY
CONVERSATION – BORDER MOVEMENT BERLIN RESIDENCIES
5.00 PM | Rio Hotel & Cinema Complex
Border Movement was a platform fostering interaction between the electronic music scenes of South Asia and Germany, initiated by the Goethe-Institutes in South Asia. From 2016 to 2018, it facilitated residencies for South Asian artists in Berlin, in partnership with Wild City, Ableton, and Musicboard Berlin. Each year, three artists from the region spent two months in Berlin, collaborating with local artists, attending master classes, and performing live. Join Sri Lankan musicians Dinelka Liyanage and Nigel Perera, residents of the Border Movement Berlin as they share memories of their experience and how it impacted their relation with Techno culture in conversation with Imaad Majeed and Asvajit Boyle, on whose original experience in 2014 this residency was modelled on.

25th – WEDNESDAY
FILM SCREENING – SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS
7.00 PM | Goethe – Institute Colombo
Sisters with Transistors tells the untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers who transformed music production and listening through innovative use of machines like theremins and synthesizers. Narrated by avant-garde composer Laurie Anderson, the documentary showcases archival footage and features groundbreaking artists such as Clara Rockmore, Bebe Barron, and Suzanne Ciani. Directed by London-based filmmaker Lisa Rovner, the film explores the avant-garde, academia, and
commercial soundscapes shaped by these women. This is Rovner's first feature documentary, following her extensive work with artists and brands in short films, music videos, and art exhibitions.

27th – FRIDAY
PERFORMANCE – ROBERT LIPPOK & ISURU KUMARASINGHE LIVE
7.00 PM | Rio Hotel & Cinema Complex
Experience an evening of immersive live electronic music performances featuring Berlin-based artist Robert Lippok and Sri Lankan artist Isuru Kumarasinghe.

27th –FRIDAY
CONVERSATION – UNDERGROUND AND TECHNO CULTURE IN THE EARLY 90S BERLIN
5.00 PM | Rio Hotel & Cinema Complex
Robert Lippok and Jan Ramesh de Saram in a reverting conversation moderated by Prof. Asoka de Zoysa on the transformative years of Berlin’s early 1990s techno scene, a period marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the city’s rebirth as a global centre for electronic music and underground culture. Musician and visual artist Robert Lippok and Jan Ramesh de Saram, the cultural affairs coordinator at Goethe-Institut and well as a pioneer in the Pettah Interchange 2012- 2016, will explore how techno became the soundtrack to Berlin’s newfound freedom.

28th –SATURDAY
FILM SCREENING AND PERFORMANCE BERLING: SYMPHONY OF A GREAT CITY
7.00 PM | Rio Hotel & Cinema Complex
Walter Ruttmann's Berlin: Symphony of a Great City is a semi-documentary in five acts that captures a day in Berlin, from dawn to nightfall. The film, a non- narrative ode to the bustling metropolis, employs dynamic visual techniques such as jump-cuts and double exposures to convey the city's ceaseless movement. It contrasts workers flocking to factories with scenes of diverse entertainment, highlighting the stark contrasts between rich and poor, human life and machinery. This silent classic will be screened at the historic Rio Cinema, accompanied by a live dub techno soundtrack performed by Nigel Perera, Asvajit Boyle, Geve, and Sweety. An original experience not to be missed – and perhaps, the final public performance within the cinema's crumbling walls.