The Noordbrabants Museum and November Music festival present Earth Workers Requiem/Jubilate: a newly commissioned musical composition and large scale immersive installation by composer Micha Hamel and artist Jonas Staal that honors human and non-human Earth Workers across deep pasts, presents and futures.
Visit the exhibition
Past, Present and Future
Earth Workers
Human animals are not the only laborers on earth: nonhuman animals, plants and bacteria also work. This collective work is what has constituted a livable biosphere across long periods of time. We are all Earth Workers, in the words of writer Radha D’Souza. The intensive sonic layers of Hamel’s composition, combined with fossils of past and future earth workers by Staal, attempt to honor earth workers across different temporalities. As an expansion of the socialist hymn, the International, the piece calls to unite not only all workers of the world but also all of the world’s times.
Bosch Requiem
Each year, around All Saints’ Day, a new Bosch Requiem is performed during November Music. It is an annual composition commission for a Dutch composer. This year, the choice fell on composer, conductor, and poet Micha Hamel (Amsterdam, 1970). Hamel had been seeking an opportunity to collaborate with visual artist Jonas Staal (Zwolle, 1981) for some time.
November Music
During the November Music festival (November 9 to 17, excluding November 11), live performances will take place. The exhibition will remain on display until March 9, 2025.
November Music is an eleven-day festival for adventurous music lovers. Every year, it brings together the most innovative and avant-garde creators and musicians from around the world. The festival features modern composed music, jazz, new world music, music theater, pop, installations, and music in genres yet to be discovered.
Credits
Micha Hamel - composition
Jonas Staal - visual artist
Koen Kaptijn - trombone (not 12, 13 en 14 Nov)
Khadija Massaoudi - singing
Inez Nuijten - performer (not 12 nov)
Jasper Schweppe - zang (not 12, 13 en 14 Nov)
Tomas Valečka - sounddesign, sound technique
Maria Goetze - singing (on tape)
Capella Brabant - choir, voices (on tape)
Good to know: In Earth Workers Requiem/Jubilate, the composition is an important part of the installation. The music is played at a considerable volume and may be experienced as intense; therefore, ear protection is available at the entrance of the exhibition rooms for visitors who prefer it.