Sage Gateshead has announced Variations, its first digital mini-festival featuring four new commissions from a stellar line-up of international contemporary artists. The films are released online this weekend to coincide with COP26.
The four new works, from Anohni and Yoko Ono, John Grant, Moor Mother and Tune-Yards, influenced by themes of climate change and lockdown will be shared on BBC iPlayer from Sunday 31 October. Each music film will also be available via the Sage Gateshead website and YouTube channel at sagegateshead.com/variations
There are so many of us in the world who are now awakened, ready to act to save our world. So let’s work together to save this planet. ~ Yoko Ono
Written by Yoko Ono, Anohni and Yoko’s duet I Love You Earth has a new film created by Yoko Ono with The Rainforest Trust. It is a protest song of imagination, peace and love. Anohni and Yoko pay homage to the Earth at this turning point in the climate crisis.
Yoko Ono says:
There are so many of us in the world who are now awakened, ready to act to save our world. So let’s work together to save this planet. Together. That’s how we will change the world. We change, and the world changes. Have trust in what you can do. Have trust in how fast we can change our world for the better. Why? Because we have to. Believe that we are one and together we will make it. Love is what connects all lives on Earth.
In Faint Positive Lateral Flow, John Grant is asking “Where should I be, how should I be feeling?” as he examines the confusing world of 2021
Speaking about Variations, John said:
I think we’re all stressed the f*** out right now with all the different things that are going with the pandemic and climate change, etc. and don’t even have time to catch up and figure out how we feel. So, I think it’s a good thing to give voice to those thoughts and feelings to maybe lighten the load. Maybe in some small way this can help other people figure out where they’re at by sparking that thought process in the midst of all the stress.
Camae Ayewa, AKA Moor Mother declares emergency, with musicians including members of the Philadelphia free-jazz ensemble Irreversible Entanglements, in Spring Again; a musical distress signal and testimony to injustice.
Camae says:
Nature is music. Nature is life. Nature is existential to my practice and mental health. From Environmental racism to biological warfare, it is our responsibility to speak up about these atrocities. The people deserve to have access to nature and clean water not corporations. Corporations especially oil and gas companies should not own land that never was for sale. We need new laws that care about the health of the environment not the death of it.
Tune-Yards two-piece Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner have created Time No Time; an urgent warning of climate catastrophe which celebrates the next generation on Earth, after life as we know it has ended.
The band said:
We’re thrilled to be a part of Variations that spotlights the work and goals of COP26. It’s rare that we get the chance to directly connect our music with the push towards global net zero — a push that must happen immediately if we’re to steer the planet away from total catastrophe.