dweller, the NYC music festival designed to amplify and celebrate Black talent in the field of electronic music, is returning for an unforgettable 2024 season, running February 20 to February 25 at clubs and underground spaces across Brooklyn.
The dweller Festival was founded by the Discwoman collective co-founder Frankie Decaiza Hutchinson, who curates the festival alongside Enyo Amexo and Ryan Clarke. dweller’s mission of properly contextualizing Black creators’ influence over the past, present, and future of dance music remains as vital and singular as it did when Hutchinson launched the festival in 2019.
“We strive to be a black lighthouse; a siren in the storm for those who know the isolating whitewaters of electronic all too well. At this time, the authorities controlling this current seek to drown the voices and new structures that can reverse the flow of power back into our hands. We must be vigilant towards persisting as to not just speak for ourselves but redistribute resource, equity, and justice in a space that has long made its worth on the backs of the silenced,” their site wrote.
This fifth-anniversary edition of the festival features over 75 artists holding court in seven of New York’s most exciting dance spaces with featured artwork created by Hassan Rahim’s studio 12:01. dweller’s season begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 20 with a free-with-RSVP ritual gathering at MoMA PS1 in Queens, headlined by the prolific and critically-acclaimed musician Actress.
As part of this year’s festival, the film streaming service The Criterion Channel has linked up with dweller beginning on February 1 to spotlight a collection of films that celebrate the Black roots of electronic music. Among the 13 films curated by the festival for streaming through February is the 1996 documentary, The Last Angel Of History, which explores the origins and significance of the concept of Afrofuturism in music, writing and other disciplines.
Another film, 2003’s Maestro, explores the origins of house music via Black figures such as Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles. A selection of short films also on the playlist include Songs For Earth & Folk (2013), I Held The Truth In My Hands (2020), Pivot (2020), Lunar New Year (2021), MOSQUITO: The Movie (2022), Hyperfate (2023), Pacific Club (2023) and Trial Period (2023). A 7-day free introductory trial to the Criterion Channel is available by clicking here.
For more information, visit here.
dweller Festival Lineup
Feb 20
True Polar Wander
“annual opening ceremony to reorient ourselves after a year of roaming”
Actress, ALSOKNOWNASROX, S*an D. Henry-Smith, Tavish Timothy
Opening Celebration @ MoMA PS1, 7-10 PM, Free w/ RSVP
Feb 21
Continental Drift
Actress, Edward George, more artists TBA
“experiments on how sound and sight know nothing of imagined borders”
Education Night @ Nowadays, 7-10 PM, Free w/RSVP coming soon
Entering Quadrant 5
“legends of the underground..”
DJ Black Power, Josey Rebelle
Opening Night @ Bossa Nova Civic Club, 10 PM-4 AM, Tickets
Feb 22
Afro-Atlantic Dub
“take a step back in time to the future”
Edward George, Embaci, Liv.e
Live Show @ Public Records, 7-10 PM, Tickets
See the Jungle for the Trees
“speed is what you need”
Kush Jones and Tim Reaper
Club Night @ Public Records 10 PM-3 AM, Tickets
Absolute Music
“paint pictures on the dance floor”
Galcher Lustwerk and gum.mp3
Club Night @ Bossa Nova, 10 PM-4 AM, Tickets at the door
Curated Chaos
“a beloved gathering”
ASL Princess, Enfleshed (FKA Limitbreak!), Oneeleven, DOLLNXTDOOR, Archangel, :3LON (LIVE), Ms. Boogie (LIVE), Sissy Eliott, Naija Couture
Body Hack @ Nowadays, 10PM-Late, Tickets
Neptune Rising
“all night subnautical sonic assaults”
Upstairs: 1Morning, DJ Stingray 313, Memphy
Downstairs: Bae Bae and Ashley Venom
Club Night @ Paragon, 10 PM-4 AM, Tickets
Feb 23
One-Woman-Show
“Do-Not-Miss” -New York Most
Maya Margarita
Live Show @ Paragon, 9-10 PM Tickets
Cross-pollination
“wind your waist”
DJ Narciso, Scraaatch, Total XTC, DJ Lag, Kikelomo
Club Night @ Paragon 10 PM-4 AM, Tickets
A Special Request
“sub-bass extensions in the hardcore continuum reach NYC”
Coki, Livwutang, Sarra Wild
Club Night @ Nowadays, 10 PM-Late, Tickets
404 Sunset
“threading with hope / atmospheric inspiration // soft haze”
A Space for Sound, KeiyaA, TAKA
Live Show @ Public Records, 7-10 PM, Tickets
Love Goes On & On
“at home in house”
Colored Craig, NIKS, Russell E.L. Butler, Waajeed
Club Night @ Public Records 10 PM-4 AM, Tickets
10PM in Detroit
“full throttle for those who know”
Eden and HiTech
Club Night @ Bossa Nova, 10 PM-4 AM, Tickets at the door
Seafloor Spreading
“bottomless kaleidoscopic immersion”
“Vulgar & sexy” – New York Grimes
A.M.D, Sharlese, Charlton, Rroxymore, quest?onmarq
Merge @ Warehouse, 10 PM-Late, Tickets
Feb 24
A Long Cast Shadow (Selenelion)
“where the sun and moon are both audible” – NY Most
“the seismic shadow we’ve been waiting for” – DJ Rag
Theo Parrish, Patti Kane, Suzi Analogue Live, DJ Freedem, Zaida Zane, Donis, Batu, Beige
Nonstop @ Nowadays, 10 PM-10 PM, Tickets
BootySound
“its bouncy”
Swami Sound and Martyn Bootyspoon
Club Night @ Bossa Nova, 10 PM-4 AM, Tickets at the door
Thunder Down Under
“techno at its molten core”
Daiyah, Robert Hood, Devoye, Shaun J. Wright, Miss Twink USA, Kilopatrah Jones
Club Night @ Basement, 10 PM-6 AM, Tickets
Hard Drama
“something a little different. feel the other side”
Authentically Plastic, DJ Miss Parker, Hook (live), LustSickPuppy (live), Princess Peggie, Shamel Pitts | TRIBE, Tati au Miel
Club Night @ Paragon, 10 PM-4 AM, Tickets
dweller World
“a hidden thing is more powerful than a visible one” -West African Proverb
Anysia Kym, HiTech, Pretty V & dav1d, Niontay, Liv.e, Salimata
Yung World x Dweller @ Cafe Erzulie, 7-9 PM, Tickets
Feb 25
The Final Frontier
“a last embrace. Until next time…”
AK and Blackmoonchild
Bossa Nova Civic Club, 10 PM-4 AM, Tickets at the door
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