Nublu presents ISTANBUL SESSIONS live & DJ ECE ÖZEL

A music festival does not take place in a vacuum. If the festival program is curated in an informed and committed manner, the visitor is not only offered the chance to be presented with musical discoveries or even current developments at an early stage. In the best case, a socio-political attitude, a signature, an ethos also manifests itself over the years in a festival's program. For example, a trust in a culture of dialogue, of mutual appreciation, which pleads for equal participation of all people in this culture. This is true in good times, in times of new beginnings, but especially in politically difficult times! When the saxophonist Ilhan Ersahin, who lives in New York, was born in Sweden and comes from Turkey, presented his project "Istanbul Sessions" for the first time in 2011 as part of Enjoy Jazz, one could read in the program booklet about the vibrant metropolis on the Bosporus, where intercultural new things were constantly being created. When Ersahin opened the festival in 2016 as a "special guest" of the Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila, one could read about the Arab Spring, self-determined sexuality, religious freedom and political rebellion, the right to party and stubbornness. Today, our view of the metropolis on the Bosporos has changed decisively, and we must fear for freedom and tolerance. With which artistic response will Ilhan Ersahin's Istanbul Sessions meet this development?