COMMON GROUND | Space of Common Ground
“Music remembers what borders cannot contain.”
COMMON GROUND brings together artists with roots across the SWANA region (Southwest Asia and North Africa) for a week of artistic exchange, collective creation, and musical dialogue.
The project begins with songs—songs passed down through generations, shaped by migration, and preserved through memory. Each artist brings music from their own cultural background, creating a starting point for a collaborative process of arrangement, improvisation, and exploration.
Throughout the residency, different musical traditions engage in dialogue with one another. Distinct artistic voices and perspectives come together not to merge into a single narrative, but to create a shared space where differences can be heard, respected, and transformed into something new.
COMMON GROUND explores themes of belonging, displacement, memory, resistance, and hope. Through collective creation and mutual listening, the project reflects the realities of living between cultures, languages, and places.
The concert presents newly developed arrangements and collaborations that bridge tradition and contemporary expression.
Artists
- Zainab Lax
- Burçin Keskin
- Şeyda Aktaş
- Eylem Külahçı
- Sara Hasti
- Imen Al Amouri
- Avin Ahmadi
- Farinaaz
- Mitra Behpoori
- Lilit Tonoyan
Artistic Directors: Zainab Lax & Burçin Keskin
Concert : August 8, 2026 | 8:00 p.m. • Alte Pfandhaus, Cologne
In collaboration with Korsi Collective
