Rike van Kleef in the bar talk about the current & future festival landscape & about unpretentious dependent alternatives.
Look at monkeys, take a festival landscape and music industry apart and think about unpretentious dependent alternatives … a meeting with author Rike van Kleef in the Monkey Bar Berlin.
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ME: We arrived here on the tenth floor and have a look at the monkeys in the Berlin Zoo. And a lot of green. That can do something!
Rike van Kleef: Yes, right? I’ve never been here.
Where we were both last: at the Primavera Festival in Barcelona. How did you find it?
So the line-up was great … (The drinks ordered arrive)
Then I come across with you with Yuzu Watermelon!
Definitely … cheers!
Pretty sugar, right?
Totally. Actually, I don’t like so sweet cocktails.
Rather? Which is your favorite drink?
I’m trying around. The other day I drank a really good non -alcoholic amaretto in the curly bar in Wedding, which totally picked me up.
Sounds delicious. Back to the festival again: You haven’t finished with your Primavera designs yet, right?
Yes, so I had really high expectations because I also interviewed the spokeswoman for the festival, Marta Pallarès, for my book “cheap places – gender, power and discrimination in the music industry”. In the end, apart from the line-up, I was disappointed. Infrastructure was not designed for the amount of people. For example, there were too few wave breakers, which brought me to a beginning panic attack with Sabrina Carpenter because I was squeezed in the front third. I also got my days, which was not that great because the hygiene situation was a disaster. My conclusion in short version: The Primavera has proven that a commercially successful festival with Flinta*-Main-acts and a young, queer crowd is possible-but a festival alone does not make it feminist.
What makes a festival feminist?
This includes questions that you have to clarify in advance, how: do people feel comfortable who are not 1.80 tall and have a certain mass? Is there a functioning hygiene infrastructure, at the level that people with uterus who have to men can also make it easier for themselves? Can’t you only consume alcohol, but also hydrate? It is about not only making decisions of commercial nature, but also those that deposit at the feeling of security. A feminist approach also relates to how festival endings deal with employees and position themselves in public debates.
Which festival is a good example in this country?
The MS Dockville team in Hamburg is very concerned about booking and awareness. A lot happens at smaller festivals. I have the impression that these events in particular are more concerned with eco toilets and awareness concepts.
If you could help shape the festival landscape, what would you do?
I would first think about: “Who do I do with it? Do we have a similar value base?” I would also want to use the position to involve people who are competent in the job but have not yet received so chances in the industry. These people also often bring exciting perspectives with them, which I may not cover at all. Because I have often wondered: “Where are the black bookers: inside? Where are the event manager: inside in a wheelchair?” The lack is not that these people would not be suitable for these jobs, but that in the past the work environment was not designed for a wide variety of life realities. And when asked about the team, I would think about infrastructural thoughts. Is the area inclusive accessible? What about the hygiene situation? Does the stage set -up invite you to discover new things in addition to main acts? How do I get newcomers in total: internal funding? Furthermore, I would have to consider what my festival should radiate and with which collectives I want to work together.
Could you trigger a positive discourse with your book?
After reading “cheap places”, many people reflect that they feel seen from it and that things have happened to them – sometimes also in other industries. This is sad and hopeful at the same time. I am happy when people give me the feedback that they have found a vocabulary for their experiences through me. The other day I also got the news that my book was the encouragement for a person to become a booker now. She hadn’t dared for a long time, but after reading she wanted to tackle it and had even spoken to people to tackle it. It is of course great to have helped someone to make a life -changing decision and network.
At what moments do you find, is a visit to a bar a particularly good idea?
Before that, I haven’t been in bars for a long time because I was my book. However, we are currently in a nibbling process and I’m slowly starting to learn leisure time. So I would like to go back in pubs, also to get to know people. To get into conversation. For this I am looking for places that have affordable and many non -alcoholic drinks on offer. And that are smoke -free. When I found a pub like this, I would like to use it like a living room. So for playing the card, looking for a “crime scene”, holding out for unpretentious.
More about Rike van Kleef
Rike van Kleef, journalist and Cultural worker, with tens of actor: talked inside from the music, live and festival industry. She is devoted to the question of why diversity is still one on the open air line-ups Is rarity and the music industry represents a still male -dominated field and how this should be changed. She is also a co -founder of the Faemm association, the stands for a fair, feminist music scene. Plus: For Musikexpress has Rike wrote a text about sprints.
More about “at the bar”
In our “at the bar” series there are artists: Inside with me-hoste Hella Wittenberg in a cozy atmosphere at the counter for a deep talk.