Das sagt der/die Veranstalter:in:

Cruel Machine presents the fourth chapter of their bi-monthly series Cruel Thursday - this time taking place on a Sunday - a night dedicated to boundary-breaking sounds, diasporic narratives and Berlin’s ever-shifting underground community. After three editions at Bar Neun, each bringing together close circles of artists, friends and long-standing collaborators, this next gathering takes a different and urgent direction.

Rooted in the organiser’s Palestinian heritage and responding to the ongoing devastation in Gaza, this edition becomes a full fundraiser in support of the Hind Rajab Foundation, an organisation committed to documenting war crimes and pursuing legal accountability for the perpetrators of systemic violence against Palestinian civilians. While medical aid and humanitarian relief remain essential, the foundation focuses on a parallel, often neglected line of action: building the legal and evidentiary infrastructure needed to challenge impunity, preserve testimonies, and support future international prosecution efforts.

This special event proposes a sonic space where solidarity, mourning, and resistance intermingle, not as abstract symbols, but as lived, diasporic realities. From North African rhythms to experimental electronics, from ambient performance to global folk transmissions, the evening assembles a constellation of artists whose practices resonate with themes of migration, uprising, memory work, and cultural continuity.

Running from late afternoon until midnight, the program unfolds as a constellation of artists whose practices resonate with themes of migration, resistance, and transnational belonging. Across two live performances, a conceptual intermezzo set, and multiple DJ sets, the night moves through shifting emotional and sonic registers: cinematic ambient, ritual electronics, SWANA diasporic grooves, politically-charged storytelling, industrial textures, and raw club energy. In the spirit of collective gathering, a small solidarity records market will accompany the event, with all proceeds supporting the fundraiser.

The lineup includes:
– Meriem S (DJ): Tunisian-Italian selector known for bridging Maghreb rhythms, club sound, and diasporic narratives.
– Skøgen (DJ): Experimental project by Italian artist Francesco Presotto, merging ritual electronics, ambient, industrial and granular techniques.
– Kimi Recor (LIVE): German-born singer and composer crafting immersive ambient performances shaped by minimalism and dream-state atmospheres.
– Rabibti àtable (DJ): Berlin-based DJ and community organiser weaving rap, bass, folk influences and SWANA/Abya Yala sonic memory into political storytelling.
– Lounja (LIVE): Algerian artist moving between performance, video and uncompromising electronic sound, rooted in diasporic heritage and experimental practice.
– Suzanne (DJ): Exploring intersections between Static Techno, Gothic, EBM, Industrial and global proto-rhythms.
– DJ Nephil (DJ): Italian artist and head of Gravitational Waves, known for intense electro, acid and punk-infused sets.
– Lichene concept set: Synchro Radio (concept set/intermezzo): an unrepeatable, live-mixed constellation of FM radios from around the world, collapsing time zones, erasing “elsewhere”, and producing a sonic experience of simultaneity and co-presence.

Across the evening, Cruel Machine invites the community to gather not only for music, but for a shared political gesture, a reminder that nightlife can be a site of collective witness, material support, and refusal of apathy. All entry donations and market proceeds will be directed to the Hind Rajab Foundation, with additional online contributions accepted via PayPal for those unable to attend.

Al Muqawama positions nightlife as a shared, immediate terrain where communities gather not only to listen, but also to act, transforming dancefloors into spaces of awareness, care, and collective resistance.

More details, donation links, and schedule will follow through Cruel Machine’s channels.

@cruel_machine_booking
RA link 
PayPal donations pool