ANGEL — WOVEN BY WATER
videoinstallation with live performance
9 min. loop
In Guellala, the visual material of Anja Kreysing’s work ANGEL – WOVEN BY WATER is accompanied by her musical collaboration with Maha Ben Hamed. The site-specific video essay is projected onto the old mosque next to the museum. With darkness in the background, revealing only faint outlines of the surrounding hills, the almost inconspicuous mosque becomes particularly striking through the projection.
Blending documentary observation with artistic manipulation, the video essay merges real footage of the german river „Angel“ with hand-drawn elements and digitally altered sequences, creating an interplay between organic imagery and color-abstracted overlays. Water movements, reflections and the color shifts of the Angel form the visual foundation for the continuously transforming sequences.
In this setting the focus is on their joint composition and no manipulated, synthetic or looped sounds are heard in the background. It is not a classical performance, but rather an open form of communication that exists fully in the moment. In contrast to Anja’s warm, powerful accordion tones shaped by deep basses, Maha’s bright and clear qanun tones emerge. Almost silver in their resonance, they bring a playful lightness. Their shared tones create an interplay in which they behave like voices in dialogue. At times, only one voice is heard; in the next moment, the two become interwoven. Sometimes they respond directly to one another, while at other times, they create a pause in which silence turns into music.
Though seemingly unpredictable, the structure is infused with a hidden inner logic that only the two artists seem to understand. Without words, without prior agreements relying solely on listening and responding, a musical dialogue unfolds that feels so intimate it cannot be fully decoded by outsiders.
Anja and Maha create their own language, shaped by specific moments as well as past impressions and personal memories. This language is fluid, constantly evolving and cannot be written down.
Within it, music becomes a medium that transcends the boundaries of pure perception. Their interplay serves as an example of how language can function beyond words and be understood as a shared process. It is a dynamic exchange whose core elements are listening, reacting and interacting together.
What emerges is a form of communication that does not depend on linguistic rules or codes but unfolds through the immediacy of mutual encounter.
In a time dominated by rapid pace and digital structures, this form of direct and intense communication takes on special relevance. The type of musical exchange developed in this performance demonstrates not only that communication can be a living and creative process that goes beyond simple information transfer, but also, and more importantly, how vital it is to create spaces where encounter and expression can arise freely.
ANJA KREYSING
BACKGROUND
Her focus is on expanded cinema and experimental film, audio-visual performances and live environments. She develops live soundtracks for silent films, and is dedicated to improvising with accordion and electronics.
RECENT PROJECTS
2024 Muelheim (de), MACROSCOPE with Ira Blazejewska and Helena Hartmann
2024 Luedenscheid (de), LICHTROUTEN Preview with Kurt Laurenz Theinert
2023 Gelsenkirchen (de), GOLDSTUECKE with Kurt Laurenz Theinert
2024 Muenster (de), KLANGZEITFESTIVAL with Zahra Mani
2024 Pula (kr), VISUALIA Festival with Hartung | Trenz
2024 Essen (de), NEUE GALERIE with Yoshiyuki Hoshi
Regular performing and screeing activities since 2013
STUDIES
1997 Muenster (de), ART ACADEMY: Academic Letter
BIO
Lives and works in Muenster (de).
LINKS
anjakreysing.de
@anja_kreysing
MAHA BEN HAMED
BACKGROUND
Maha Ben Hamed grew up in Houmt Souk and has been a passionate qanun player for 10 years. An instrument that she not only plays well but also teaches. Rather than sticking to genre boundaries, she aims to overcome them. Enjoying the blends of styles, she plays the qanun in jazz and likes to combine unusual instruments. Whether she improvises or plays from sheet music, different kinds of fusion music always play an important role.
BIO
Lives in Tunis (tn).
LINKS
FEATURED IMAGE
Anja Kreysing & Maha Ben Hamed. SEE DJERBA Guellala 2025. Photo: Wassim Ben Issa.