14. September kl.15.00 - 14. August kl.16.15

Four Compositions on Francis Alÿs’ Children’s Games

Concert with Cikada Ensemble. Music by Kim Myhr, Pierre Slinckx, Aleksandra Gryka og Angélica Castelló.

Four Compositions on Francis Alÿs’ Children’s Games

Since 1999, Francis Alÿs has been filming children at play around the world. Children flying kites in Afghanistan, playing knucklebones in Nepal, racing snails in Belgium, and dancing with oranges in Denmark. The power of imagination to transcend harsh and sometimes violent surroundings forms a common thread throughout the films, each portraying games and contexts with their own unique character.

In this concert, four composers respond with new works for the Cikada Ensemble, exploring the rhythms, logic, and intensity of play — fleeting and deeply serious at the same time, closely tied to the place where it arises, yet universal.

Kim Myhr sees children’s play as moments of total presence — not as light entertainment, but as intense and all-consuming experiences. His music invites adult listeners to rediscover the immediacy, rawness, and wonder of childhood.

Pierre Slinckx starts from a disturbing image: children climbing up and rolling down a heap of mining waste in Lubumbashi, inside old tires. Like little Sisyphuses, they repeat the ascent — a cycle reflecting both the enduring aftermath of colonialism and the hidden costs of the extraction industry. Slinckx responds with a fragmented echo of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” — childhood innocence cast in stark contrast to the weight of the landscape.

Aleksandra Gryka hears play as quiet resistance and connection. Her music dwells in the borderland where body, environment, and imagination merge. Each film inspires a distinct instrumental universe, reflecting the fleeting emotions in Alÿs’ images.

Angélica Castelló lets the musicians play — literally. With a score built like a card game, she invites chance, mishaps, and surprises.

Can music sound like how play feels?

Art & culture