Discover The Switzerland You Didn't Know Existed At Zürich Meets London Festival

By Sponsor Last edited 95 months ago
Discover The Switzerland You Didn't Know Existed At Zürich Meets London Festival

This is a sponsored article on behalf of Zürich Meets London: A Festival of Two Cities.

If you think Switzerland's all cuckoo clocks and army knives, think again. Zürich Meets London: A Festival of Two Cities is coming to the capital from 17-21 May to shake up our perceptions — think Dadaist art, dance music and daring short films, with much of it completely free.

Swiss ingenuity is the order of the day at the multi-venue festival, with an events programme including short films, talks, concerts, clubbing and live art.

Join a Dada performance marathon

Register for free for Instant City Reloaded, a witty and inventive four-day art project touring round London with an inflatable 'Dada on Tour' tent and portable museum.

The spectacular finale takes place at Central Saint Martins in an 'orgiastic 12-hour event-marathon' from noon till midnight on 21 May, featuring a 'creative boxing contest' where artists, lecturers, poets and performers from all over the world will trade verbal and physical blows.

Fancy yourself a philosopher, curator, boxer, idler or fantasist? You're urged to join in: email icr@cabaretvoltaire.ch.

Most intriguing and a bit bonkers, this is truly Dada.

Celebrate surreal Swiss filmmaking

It's been a century since Dada began, yet those crazy creatives still feel thoroughly modern. Get tickets for 100 Years of Dada at the ICA to get a sense of just how current their 1916 ideas remains.

At 6.30pm on 20 May there's Dada in Dialogue with the Present, juxtaposing experimental short films and writings from then and now with a post-show discussion. Then at 8.30pm it's Film is Dead — Long Live Dada, a short film competition inspired by the 20th century movement.

Hear the best of Zürich's eclectic music scene

It's perhaps no surprise that in a country with four official languages, Zurich's music scene is a vibrant pick'n'mix of artistic ingredients and styles.

There's Ingrid Lukas and Fai Baba over at the Shacklewell Arms on 19 May at 8pm, a free concert showing off Lukas's talent for fusing traces of classical music with post-rock jazz and demonstrating Baba's maverick combinations of 'mad psychedelic guitar soli' with glam rock choruses, tender folk songs and deep dark blues.

Then catch a duet double bill at Rich Mix on 20 May at 8pm, featuring pianist Bärtsch's unique blend of minimalism and percussive jazz in duet with bass clarinettist Sha. Also on the bill is OY, the innovative duo of multi-instrumentalist and singer Joy Frempong and percussionist Lleluja Ha.

Stick around after the show for a guest DJ set from legendary EDM club Zukunft, who'll be spinning the decks after their live performances. Plus idiosyncratic and pioneering DJs Kalabrese and Alex Dallas will be bringing their style and sound to Corsica Studios in Elephant & Castle on the final night of the festival.

Check out the Zürich Meets London Festival programme for more exciting events.

Last Updated 25 April 2016