Discover the diverse dimensions of the urban night with our student-in-residence Alina Tomescu
In this edition, we will explore the connections between musical genres and cultural identities, diving into the inequalities in the dance music sector and how different genres have historically been treated from political and cultural perspectives. This programme takes place at VOX-POP and includes a simple vegetarian meal and drinks.
Timo Koren is Assistant Professor in Cultural Economy in the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Amsterdam. His PhD thesis, on Amsterdam-based nightclubs (1988 – 2019), showed how night-time economies function as nodes in global flows of music genres and musical knowledge, and how these economies are impacted by urban dynamics such as regulation, gentrification, and urban regeneration.
Mesin Slat (Oji Nauli) is a DJ and one of the exhibiting artists in the exhibition Right to the Night. In the exhibition, he co-developed a multimedia installation, TULALIT, which is based on his research on funkot and dangdut and which highlights where this all came from: the bedroom, the friends, and the internet.
Through this installation he wants to stress what he found in his past year of research; the importance of a good relationship between informal situations and culture production, and how through this, club culture can provide a space for resources to be experimented with beyond its form to access invisiblized networks. DIY resilience, baby!
This event marks the final session in the Nocturnal Dialogues programme series and is also the finissage of the exhibition Right to the Night. To celebrate this series about the night over the last few months at VOX-POP, you are invited to join the programme afterparty at OT301 between 20.00 – 01.00. Tickets for this party are based on a pay-what-you-can basis and can be purchased online via this link.
The party at OT301 will have DJ sets, DJ lectures, video art about the urban night and a drag workshop by the House of Extinction.
Nocturnal Dialogues
The night is often associated with club culture and electronic dance music. With “Nocturnal Dialogues”, Alina seeks to redefine the boundaries of the urban night. Beyond the beats of nightlife, we explore topics like nature, rituals, and activism at night. We broaden the discussion about who has a right to the city at night, and bring together various academic disciplines engaging with night studies as well as diverse night communities. Students and scholars from fields as diverse as philosophy, urban
Alina has always been passionate about cities and the way that culture contributes to their development. She worked for 7 years on various projects related to heritage and cultural programming in relation to regional and local development. In 2021 she went back to university to focus on exploring academically what the city at night means, and how night studies can enhance her practice until that moment. She noticed that she and several of her friends would feel more comfortable during the night, and that the city opens itself up for different uses during the dark hours. She dived into this topic first through a pre-masters in Cultural Sociology at Erasmus Rotterdam, and then through a more humanities-focused master's programme at the UVA in Comparative Cultural Analysis.
The event takes place on October 10 and is from 18:00 to 19:30, following a party and drag workshop from 20:00 to 01:00 at OT301. The programme at VOX-POP includes a simple vegetarian meal and drinks.
Participation is free, but due to limited spots, we ask that you sign up in advance. Location: VOX-POP, Binnengasthuisstraat 9 (first floor BG3).