Durchlüften 2026

The 2026 edition centers artists as carriers of knowledge — musicians who keep cultural memory alive through reinvention. Across continents and generations, this year’s program demonstrates that tradition is never static. It breathes. It mutates. It adapts. It travels.

Storytelling runs like a living thread through many of the musical traditions gathered at DURCHLÜFTEN. From Mauritania, Noura Mint Seymali brings electrified griot-rooted desert blues into a contemporary, high-voltage present, joined by Massa Dembele, a musician from a West African griot lineage whose kamele n’goni — a harp-like instrument — carries forward generations of musical storytelling. From Tanzania, The Zawose Queens step forward with renewed strength, expanding Gogo musical heritage into a powerful feminist future.  

Across the Andes, Indigenous futurism pulses through for example the music of  Jatun Mama, reinterpreting Kichwa cosmology, pre-Columbian instruments, and ceremonial sound technologies in contemporary form. Peruvian artist Renata Flores brings Quechua language into dialogue with rap and urban pop, connecting ancestral language with contemporary sound.  

Through a collaboration with ZZK Records, the Buenos Aires–based label known for creating new connections between Latin American folk traditions and electronic music, Humazapas, Nuevos Ríos, and Montoya bring their distinctive sonic worlds to DURCHLÜFTEN 2026. In doing so, they weave together the heritage of the Andes, Afro-Colombian traditional music from the Pacific region, and global experiments with bass music. 

From Pakistan, Ustad Noor Bakhsh brings the Balochi benju into international focus, while classical vocalist Muslim Shaggan carries forward a lineage rooted in centuries of Hindustani musical tradition. Through a collaboration with the Karachi-based independent label honiunhoni, founded by ethnomusicologist and musician Daniyal Ahmed, DURCHLÜFTEN takes a second, deeper look into the beauty and complexity of Pakistan’s regional musical cultures. The evening expands further through a DJ set by Lyla Saifi, whose Karachi-rooted, globally shaped listening practice connects tradition, migration, and contemporary club culture.  

Hybrid crossings shape the wider sonic landscape. AySay merge Anatolian folk with Nordic electronica. LOMA REQS fuse Kurdish poetry with acid-driven club ritual. Yalla Miku weave traditions from Eritrea and the Horn of Africa into experimental trance. Peki Momés crafts groove-rich sound between Turkish disco and city pop. Nana Benz du Togo transform vodun-rooted polyrhythms into sub-bass spiritual propulsion. Japan’s Seppuku Pistols channel Edo-era aesthetics into raw communal resistance, while Korea’s ADG7 reimagine shamanic ritual music as bold, high-energy contemporary celebration.  

The program also highlights Berlin-based artists whose work speaks through migration, voice, and diasporic expression. UCHE YARA, an artist with Nigerian roots who grew up in Austria and now calls Berlin home, brings sharp songwriting, multi-instrumental talent, and an electrifying live presence. Charlotte Colace, shaped by Cuba, France, and Berlin, adds a voice rich in warmth, intensity, and modern soul. Berlin’s vocal ensemble  Canto Diáspora transforms collective singing into a space of memory, care, and community. Berlin’s own 100lbs of Summer bring their seasonal reggae ritual to the Schlüterhof — fleeting, joyful, and powered by sun-soaked rhythms.  

Community and collective expression resonate through  BCUC - Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness from Soweto and Morena Leraba  from Lesotho,  who’s electrified famo traditions speak of migration, labor, and resilience. Wura Samba & Gebrüder Teichmann unite Yoruba drumming and chants with analogue electronics, creating an improvisational dialogue between tradition and experimentation.  

The nights are carried forward by DJs and collectives who understand the dancefloor as shared ground and living archive. Necios collective with eÑe b2b forastero, TMNIT, Femdelic, natsu, afrodisiac, MzRizk, and Lyla Saifi join Ben Olayinka, Ra Mava, MONTOYA, Fania Brava, and members of In Living Color to shape the late-night pulse of DURCHLÜFTEN — transforming the courtyard into a shared dance floor of connection, memory, and movement.  

Together, these artists embody music without borders — not as a slogan, but as lived practice.  

“As a Mexican-American curator based in Berlin, I am deeply committed to creating spaces of inclusion and exchange. Many of us come from families shaped by migration — by the search for dignity, safety, and opportunity. We carry our histories with us.”  

DURCHLÜFTEN is rooted in that awareness. It is curated with intention and gratitude — for the artists who trust this stage, and for the audiences who gather with openness. I spend months researching, listening, in conversation, and traveling to other events in search of great music and beautiful culture that inspires me — and I hope you too. At its core, the program centers artists as carriers of knowledge — those who keep culture alive through reinvention. Across continents and generations, it reflects a simple truth: tradition is never static — it adapts, it breathes, it travels, as we do.  

Each edition grows from the same belief: that music connects us across difference.  I truly believe this!  And that listening is an act of care and dancing together can remind us of our shared humanity.  

In the current state of the world, we may feel helpless to make great change. But within the spaces we inhabit, we can create connection.  We can find common grounds. This is my goal. And so we open courtyards. We invite stories. And we make room for complexity and for joy.  

This festival is not only about performance. It is about encounter. It is about being together in difference. It is about collective healing through sound.  

It is my honor to do this work — with the artists, the crew, the Humboldt Forum, our partners, and with everyone who finds their way into the Schlüterhof this summer.”  

  

— Melissa Perales, Curator DURCHLÜFTEN  

 

Melissa Perales is an independent curator and co-founder of the Durchlüften music festival at the Humboldt Forum. As a Mexican-American promoter and cultural connector she is based in Berlin, and brings over two decades of experience in local and international independent music scenes. Her work connects artists, audiences, and institutions, and is shaped by inclusion and transcultural exchange. She has curated formats such as Torstraßen Festival and We Make Waves. Through initiatives including Music Pool Berlin, Night School, and Café Chocolat, she supports community-oriented, artist-centered development, collaboration, and international exchange through music.