DeutschIncense of Music 56
A multisensory concert – Friday, 7 September 2024, 8 pm
Evi Filippou: vibraphone
Robert Lucaciu: double bass
Zuza Jasinska: voice
Incense: Frankincense from Somalia and Oman
PANDA Platforma in der Kulturbrauerei, Knaackstr. 97, 10435 Berlin
We are thrilled to announce a unique and immersive concert experience featuring the exceptional talents of Evi Filippou on vibraphone and Robert Lucaciu on double bass. This special event will be enhanced by the evocative fragrances of frankincense from Somalia and Oman, creating an exquisite multisensory journey. Tonight, two varieties of frankincense are burned side by side, from two of the world's most significant regions of origin — each with its own distinct character.
This event is not recommended for people who are sensitive to smoke.
Frankincense from Somalia
Frankincense from Oman
Photo by Leon Maria Plecity
Incense appeals to one of the most neglected senses of modern times: the olfactory. It affects the human spirit, shapes its perception, and opens new experiences. These qualities suggest combining this ancient art, present in every culture, with music in a synesthetic project between listening and smelling, intensifying the experience. 54 concerts, 91 musicians, 13 locations, wood, resin, bark, roots, leaves, and flowers from 65 different plants. Until now.
Artists
Evi Filippou & Robert Lucaciu
The dynamic collaboration between the Greek vibraphonist and the German-Romanian double bass player has birthed an artistic partnership that defies the constraints of rigid genre categorizations. Their musical journey draws on a wide range of sources, from the intricate compositions of 20th- and 21st-century classical music to the spirited rhythms of jazz and evocative tales woven within folklore traditions. The intertwining of their unique backgrounds results in an exquisite tapestry of sound, where the vibrancy of Balkan heritage converges with the cosmopolitan influence of contemporary European musical landscapes. The duo's exploration resonates with a shared pursuit of personal expression — an auditory experience that is both timeless and contemporary.
Photo by Leon Maria Plecity
Incense
Frankincense, also known as olibanum, is the aromatic resin of trees in the genus Boswellia — small, deciduous trees that grow in the arid, rocky regions of the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, particularly Oman, Yemen, and Somalia. The resin is harvested through deliberate incisions in the bark; the milky sap that seeps out hardens in the air into glassy, yellowish-brown tears.
Frankincense is one of humanity's oldest trade goods, carried for millennia along the legendary Incense Route from southern Arabia to the Mediterranean. It was used in ancient Egypt for temple rites and embalming, is named in the Bible as one of the three gifts brought by the Magi to the infant Jesus, and remains central to Christian, Jewish, Islamic, and Hindu ceremony today.
Burned, frankincense releases a rich, earthy aroma with citrusy and spicy nuances. It is still believed to have calming, meditation-enhancing properties, valued as much in mindfulness and meditation practice today as it has long been in traditional religious ceremony.