Khabat Abas is a cellist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist from Kurdistan. Her work explores time, space, and memory through music, everyday sounds, and noises. She delves deeply into how we experience sound, particularly in various geopolitical contexts. Abas uses her instrument beyond traditional norms—improvising, composing, creating videos and sound installations, crafting cellos from diverse materials, and incorporating her body into performances. Through this approach, her work merges politics with personal expression, challenging conventional values and control.

London Improvisation Orchestra and one orchestra new,  Noise Women.  She has also collaborated with curators, artists and musicians in Kurdistan-Iraq, Sweden, Germany, and the UK., Aba’s electro-acoustic cello piece was performed in Slemani-Kurdistan as a part of the Global Listening Biennial. She performed in   Irtijal festival in Beirut  Lebanon, Space21 festival in Slemani in Iraq Kurdistan, Breachin Nicosia, Cyprus,  Borderline Festival Athens, Soundout festival Caberra Australia, EAR WE ARE Festival Sweitzerland,Zero Parameter festival in Dai Hall Huddersfield Uk, and she participated in the project  (Abandoned space) collaboration between the Sonorities festival in Belfastand Space21 festival in Kurdistan and her composition played in Klangwerkstatt, Festival for New Music in Berlin and Space21 festival n Kurdistan and London new jazz festival in London. Artist residency at Ame in Huddersfield.She is co-founder of Duo Moment; together with Hardi Kurda, they released two albums, “Broken Resonance” on Space21 Label and “Illegal Performance” at Café Oto in 2021. She has been awarded grants from Salam CultureHouse in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Swedish Art Council, and the StimForward Fund in Sweden.

DAAD Artists Fellowship for 2026 in Berlin.

Hardi Kurda is a sound artist, violinist, improviser, composer, researcher, founder and curator of SPACE21 Sound Gallery (Slemani) and Archive Khanah, he fosters international collaboration and sonic archiving in Kurdistan. Hardi is a visiting researcher at Goldsmiths and the University of Sulaimani, a jury member for the Gaudeamus Award, a co-researcher at the University of Geneva, and a former jury member for the Swedish Art Council. His works defy the boundaries of music and sound through his evocative interplay of suggestive, unconventional sounds, unexpected silences, and textured noise. He includes interactive approaches to his works such as the interactive radio antenna where he explores noises that may have been considered illegal, abandoned, unheard, invisible, broken, distorted, untold, forgotten, or simply noises from nowhere, without a place or destination. Through using radio frequencies as sound material, Hardi bridges the physical and metaphysical, turning ephemeral signals into interactive performances that he developed the concept of The Found Score to connect noises deeply with audiences to create Urgent Listening where listening became a force of necessity based on his listening’s experience when he illegally moved to Europe. His practice spans classical acoustic composition, electronic music, and interdisciplinary pieces where sound merges with other art forms to create transformative listening experiences.

Hardi’s work receive attentions and commissions from festivals, Universities and venues across Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa such as PRS New Music Biennial in the UK at South Bank Center, Another Sky Festival,Shubbak Festival

Another Sky is co-directed by Sam Salem أسامة سالم (composer; co-founder Distractfold Ensemble; RNCM) and Emily Moore (Southern Bird artist management & production).

Please do get in touch with Sam and Emily if you would like to share your music. We would love to hear from you.

Our 2023-24 film programmes were curated and led by Saeed Taji Farouky سعيد تاجي الفاروقي, a filmmaker, writer and curator who has been making work on themes of conflict, human rights and colonialism since 2004.

ame (art music experiment) C.I.C is an artist-collective organisation supporting experimental art, sound art & music scene in north England.

amespace.uk

OUTLANDS is a shared platform that connects a vital scene constituted by a vibrant set of national and regional communities.