Upstream x blurred edges

CORE w Maxime Chabal (fr) & Sharon Romie (de), Eve Stainton (uk), Andras_2020 (br/de)

Concert Series for New Music and Performance

Upstream is a concert series that brings new, forward-looking and uncompromising music and performance from the international scene to Hamburg. In reference to the metaphor "Upstream", which refers to proximity to the source, and to salmon swimming upstream to migrate, the series focuses on navigating the latest currents and addressing contemporary issues in art and music.

As a suffix, 'core' immediately invokes aesthetics. It amplifies and makes sensual the meaning of whatever comes before it, be it hardcore, nightcore, cottagecore, etc. A core centers feelings. A kernel at the center of things, it holds something together, be it immaterial or physical. Cores also protect: at the center of our own planet, a core of molten iron churns, generating the electromagnetic field which shields us from destructive cosmic forces.

This program explores such notions of fragility, hardness, and intensity through metallic sensibilities and physicalities. Maxime Chabal's metal sculptures are both sturdy and fragile, symbols of resilience and vulnerability. Here, in collaboration with multidisciplinary artist Sharon Romie, they are activated in MS Stubnitz's resonant hull. Eve Stainton's practice often explores movement, metalwork and systems of social control. The British artist and choreographer presents a solo performance to the speed garage loops of musician Mica Levi, constructing a moment of suspense with live angle-grinding, hard aesthetics and audience perception. Andras_2020 is rising within Europe's electronic music underground. Their recent EP 'Blowhole' arrived after recovering from a series of surgeries at the core of their body. Andras' metallic sound-design evokes the operating room or a school of dolphins, musically thrilling in its journey between extremities: from queer euphoria to discomfort.

The concert is part of blurred edges-Festivalfor contemporary music in Hamburg, 29.5.2026 to 28.6.2026. blurred edges 2026 is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the Musikfonds e.V. with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS, the Hamburgische Kulturstiftung, the Claussen-Simon-Stiftung and the Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten (GVL). Also supported by Musikfonds e.V with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

🎟️ blurred edges festival ticket holders do not need a single ticket, all others: get your ticket at Stubnitz ticket store.