Newsletter #8
Dear friends and colleagues,
At Newpolyphonies, we began this year carrying both hope and grief.
Our initial plan was to hold the first Club Zaghareed of the YouYou Group in Tehran, creating a space for Iranian women to express power and solidarity through their voices. However, the escalation of protests, the violent repression and killing of protesters on January 8 and 9, the internet shutdown, and the de facto state of martial law in Iran forced us to cancel this gathering.
Instead, we came together during the New Year reunion of the YouYou Group at Globe Aroma. We held hands and reminded ourselves that even in moments of fracture, there is a collective breath. We send our voices to Iranians whose family members, friends, lovers, and colleagues have been killed, and we stand in support of those who have been silenced.
From this place, our work continues. Not as a distraction from reality, but as a practice of care, resistance, and staying together through sound.
This year will be a very active one for the YouYou Group. In the coming months, we will perform at the opening of Artefact in Leuven, at Beyond the Black Box in Amsterdam, and at BUDA as part of BUDA's 20th anniversary in Kortrijk.
We are also deeply glad to share that our major project of the year, Titans, developed in collaboration with Glossa from Cologne, is now beginning. The project is initiated within the first residency of Kinotita at BUDA in Kortrijk, taking place from February 17 to February 25.
Titans continues the mythopoetic research of the YouYou Group following Hamel (2024). Drawing on sonic fiction, the work transforms monumental spaces through collective voice, asking how individual and collective forces merge, and how a voice can become a titan.
For the first time, the YouYou Group collaborates with Glossa. Their myth inspired, site specific vocal scores guide performers through architectural and urban spaces. The premiere will take place over three days as part of the opening of the newly renovated Kanal Centre Pompidou in Brussels.
During the nine day residency at BUDA, members of Glossa and the YouYou Group will meet, exchange, and lay the groundwork for future creation. In the next newsletter, we will share more about the larger framework that supports this exchange, Kinotita, a new platform for female composers working with and within large ensembles.
Follow us on instagram: newpolyphoniesRecent and upcoming events
KUKI LINE, sound walk with activations by Myriam Van Imschoot
Double programme with MoreSkinSound, FREQ series
11 October 2025, Fukuoka, Japan
SONIC SCENES, publication, Etcetera #181
Multilingual issue on sound and voice in the performing arts
Co curated by Myriam Van Imschoot with David Helbich, with contributions of circa 20 artists. Read
SEGEN EXTENDED, performance, YouYou Group
Opening Artefact Sound, 12 February 2026, 20:00, STUK, Leuven. Free upon reservation, here
20 years BUDA, 20 February 2026, 20:00, Kunstencentrum BUDA, Kortrijk
Biennale Aix en Provence, 25 May 2026, by invitation of Parallèle and LaboGAMCROSSING, performance, YouYou Group
Beyond the Black Box Festival, 14 & 15 February 2026, Amsterdam. Info
SHADOW WALKS, Myriam Van Imschoot
University of the Arts London, CRiSAP at Iklectik, curated by Tomoko Hojo
19 March 2026, London. Info
LE CADEAU, film by Myriam Van Imschoot
Roubaix, La Condition Publique, 30 May 2026. Note: The screening is joined with a panel talk attended by Myriam Van Imschoot, Sarah Leó, Badr El Hammami, Sarah Van Melick.
ARGOS TV, from 2 April to 7 May 2026, online screening in the frame of the exhibition Becoming Ancestors
TITANS, Kinotita with YouYou Group and Glossa
Vocal composition for two large ensembles by Myriam Van Imschoot, Elisa Kühnl, Anissa Rouas, and Doreen Kutzke
Opening of Kanal Centre Pompidou, 25, 26, and 28 November, BrusselsResidencies
Agora Exerce, 24 January to 13 February, Montpellier
Creation within Exerce Commun with Master students
Guided by Kinotita core artists Myriam Van Imschoot, Anne Laure Pigache, and Doreen Kutzke, with guests Natacha Muslera and Sophia Seiss
Theme, Composer (L') EnsembleKunstencentrum BUDA, 17 to 24 February, Kortrijk
Laboratory with Kinotita, culminating in an exchange between YouYou Group and Glossa
Guided by Myriam Van Imschoot, Elisa Kühnl, Doreen Kutzke, Anissa Rouas, Anne Laure Pigache, and Jule Flierl, with guest Myriam PruvotDe Brakke Grond, 26 February to 2 March
Myriam Van Imschoot attends Sonic Acts Festival and begins the research for a new project