TURNS

Concert Series by ZKM | Hertzlab

An installation can be seen in the ZKM Kubus.

The concert series by ZKM | Hertzlab called TURNS at the KUBUS creates immersive listening experiences that transform our perspective on sound. Once a month, we invite you to explore new perspectives on electronic music, sound art, and Sound Art in the sound dome. International and local artists encourage us to expand our understanding of music – through performances, participatory installations, and interactive formats.

In the concert series TURNS, curated by Dr. Lea Luka Sikau, minerals become a chorus, gamers become performers, and quanta become sound. With a new spatial stage, the audience is placed at the center. A place of shared experience is created where people can encounter one another anew and explore sound in a playful manner.

TURNS is structured around thematic cycles. They combine societal discourse, artistic research, and musical expression into immersive experiences, with process and collective experimentation at the forefront.

TURNS 2026: ECO / EXO

Multisensory Concert Series at the ZKM Klangdom

Curator Dr. Lea Luka Sikau launches a new concert series in 2026 that transforms two central tensions of our time into immersive sound spaces: our relationship with fragile ecologies (ECO) and the fascination with extraterrestrial horizons (EXO). Each month, international artists and local collectives experiment with new listening perspectives within the spatial stage of the Klangdom.

Program

ECO gives voice to ecological crises through sound, focusing on atmospheres of vulnerability, resonances between body and environment, and listening as an act of responsibility. Artists such as Mariana Carvalho and Merche Blasco create new sound ecologies that transform eco-anxiety into collective spaces of sensory experience.

Thu, 15.01.2026, 7:00 pm TURNS x Mariana Carvalho x Daniel Teruggi: EATING VOICES & SMELLING SPHERES

Thu, 26.02.2026, 7:00 pm TURNS x Merche Blasco x Sara Lana: BARKING FAUNA

Fri, 27.03.2026, 7:00 pm TURNS: ELECTRIC ASHES: Louisa Palmi & Pierre Alexandre Tremblay

EXO looks outward to the cosmos, exploring intimacies in outer space, posthuman modes of listening, and speculative narratives. The Klangdom becomes a resonating chamber for projections beyond the earthly—where science fiction meets speculative philosophy.

TURNS 2026: ECO / EXO highlights artists with no prior experience in the Klangdom. Feminist and decolonial approaches serve as a shared foundation for artistic research.

Past events

SOUNDING CYCLES

February–April 2025

The first cycle, SOUNDING CYCLES, is dedicated to cyclical rhythms, circular movements, and repetitive vibrations. Artists stage the intrinsic dynamics of materials, bring the political moment of sound to the forefront, and interweave past traditions with motion capture. Here, among other collaborations, we work with Arts at CERN for a Collective Listening Session with Robin Meier Wiratunga.
Fri, 14.02.2025, 7:00 pm TURNS: Screaming Minerals x Three Voices
Fri, 28.03.2025, 7:00 pm TURNS: Collective Listening
Sat, 26.04.2025, 7:00 pm TURNS x Synthie Lovers Festival: Sonic Kinships – Patch, Plug, Mod
SOUNDING OUT HEALTH

Mai–August 2025

In this cycle, we explore how health is interwoven with the sounds surrounding us. In our sound dome, we shed light on the mental, physical, and structural dimensions of well-being. Health is viewed beyond purely biomedical models – as a construct shaped by stigmatization, care economies, postcolonial discourses, and power structures. We listen to multispecies well-being, “Trans-Rebirth,” and planetary breath in collaboration with MONOM, the EFFEKTE Science Festival, and the University of Music Karlsruhe.
Fri, 19.05.25, 7:00 pm TURNS x Effekte: PULSING, ACHING, EXERCISING
Fri, 27.06.25, 7:00 pm TURNS: Venus Ex Machina pres. Marshlands
Thu, 17.07.25, 7:00 pm TURNS: Uncensored Clinic
Sa, 02.08.25, 9:00 pm TURNS: KAMUNA Special with the Hertzlab-Residents
SOUNDING OUT CONNECTION

September–December 2025

In this cycle, we explore how acoustic phenomena both enable and hinder connections. Our sound dome transforms into a space where digital intimacy and shared memories come to life – from immersive soundscapes that inspire intercultural dialogues to extraterrestrial sound rituals that redefine techno-social interfaces. In doing so, we question how sound can serve as a medium for collective memories and as a catalyst for sustainable communities.
In an era marked by the dispersal of our attention, auditory experiments open up new spaces for connection. In this cycle, we investigate how immersive soundscapes and participatory sound performances overcome boundaries and forge unexpected bridges between species and their environments. Our spatial stage transforms into a pulsating network that deconstructs sonic experiences and rethinks our contemporary relationships with music.
Fri, 19.09.2025, 7:00 pm TURNS x Natasha Barrett: Lie Detector
Wed, 15.10.2025, 7:00 pm TURNS x Global Sonic Research Residency Edition
Sat, 25.10.2025, 6:00 pm TURNS x ZeitGenuss: Better me & Eyes Entangled