Delighted to present a special matinee show in collaboration with Fylkingen featuring a selection of works from Swedish experimental text-sound composer and writer, Åke Hodell, in what would have been his 100th birthday year.

Hodell used his compositions to voice political dissent; his work, though congruent with electroacoustic and avant-garde movements, is most closely associated with the ethics and aesthetics of the Fluxus movement.

Hodell was trained as a fighter pilot, but after a crash in 1941 spent several years in the hospital, which catalyzed an antimilitarist ethos and shaped his artistic direction. In his first text, Flyende Pilot (1953) and subsequent books, Hodell explored what he termed “elektronismer”, or “text-sound composition”, which collages field recordings and the narrative human voice in a similar way to radio drama or musique concrète. Many of his text-sound compositions, produced in collaboration with the Swedish Broadcasting commission, had strong political content. “Mr. Smith in Rhodesia" from 1969 protested the racist government led by Prime Minister Ian Smith, and "Where Is Eldridge Cleaver?" questioned the disappearance of the Black Panther and leading ideologist of the black freedom movement believed to have been assassinated under Reagan. “Mr Smith in Rhodesia” was for a long time banned from radio broadcast in Sweden after vigorous protest from the British tabloids.

Hodell also created and headed publishing house Kerberos Förlag (named after the Hellhound in Greek mythology and also the title/subject of one of the pieces included in the Verbal Brainwash collection). Kerberos published books by Öyvind Fahlström, CC Hennix, and Hodell himself, as well as Swedish translations of Vladimir Majakovskij and Arthur Cravan.

A new edition of Hodell's 'Verbal Brainwash & Other Works' 3CD boxset collection will be available in January 2019.

Fylkingen - New Music and Intermedia Art is an artist-run venue and association for experimental music and art. The association was founded in 1933 and currently consists of around 300 Swedish and international artists that develop and present new works at the Fylkingen space. The association is run by an active board, production group and members. In 2018 Fylkingen celebrated its 85 year anniversary which makes it the world's oldest forum of its kind.