SOMAPHON invites proposals for the opening performance of its 2026 edition, with the topic “IN-BETWEEN/DAZWISCHEN”.

The opening performance will take place on Friday, 11 September 2026, at Stéphane-Hessel-Platz in Weimar, a vibrant public square situated between the Bauhaus Museum, Neues Museum and Weimarhalle. As the festival’s public opening, the performance should activate the square as a shared space of listening, encounter and participation.

The festival is seeking artistic proposals that explore the relationships between sound, body, architecture and public space. It is particularly interested in works that engage with the spatial and acoustic qualities of the site and invite audiences to become active participants rather than passive spectators. The proposals can be existing works, or newly developed (re-developed) projects alike.

Possible approaches may include:

• participatory or collective listening experiences
• movement-based and choreographic sound works
• performances involving audience interaction
• site-responsive interventions
• works using amplification, mobile sound systems or distributed loudspeakers
• experimental uses of voice, instruments, objects or media technologies
• low-tech, DIY or analogue approaches

The festival theme IN-BETWEEN explores transitions, thresholds, ambiguities and spaces of encounter. We welcome proposals that respond to these ideas through artistic, social, architectural or sonic perspectives.

Practical Information

Date: Friday, 11 September 2026
Location: Stéphane-Hessel-Platz, Weimar, Germany
Duration: 20–60 minutes (flexible)
Technical Setup: The Event provides a stage PA (no surround setup) and technical support. Participants are encourages to find acoustic solutions that do not require a multi-channel setup, but rather include the physical acoustics of the space, the architecture, the audience and the sounds of the city.
Artist Fee: 750,00€ (incl. VAT)
Travel and Accommodation Budget: 250,00€ (incl. VAT)

Application Requirements

Please submit through this form

• Project description 1500 - 2500 characters
• Technical rider
• Short biography (incl. links of previous works)

SOMAPHON – Festival for Sound, City and Body is an interdisciplinary festival in Weimar exploring the relationships between sound, urban space, and embodied experience. Bringing together artists, researchers, and audiences from diverse backgrounds, the festival presents concerts, performances, soundwalks, workshops, and participatory formats that transform the city into a shared space for listening, encounter, and experimentation. Under the theme IN-BETWEEN, the 2026 edition focuses on transitions, thresholds, and the spaces where perception, connection, and transformation emerge. www.somaphon.de

Selected artists will be invited to develop a site-responsive opening performance that inaugurates SOMAPHON 2026 and transforms the square into a temporary space of collective listening and participation in order to frame the “In-Between”.

We look forward to receiving proposals that challenge conventional performance formats and explore new ways of sounding the city together.

In case of questions, please contact: mail@cosmoschueppel.de with the subject “SOMAPHON 2026 / OPEN CALL / OPENING PERFORMANCE”.

Link zur Ausschreibung