FMP: The Living Music

Founded by a group of musicians in 1969, FMP (Free Music Production) was a Berlin-based platform for the production, presentation and documentation of free music until 2010. The group considered itself an alternative to the Berlin Jazz Days (now Berlin Jazz Festival) and strived to improve the working conditions for young jazz improvisers, most of whom had been excluded from the international festivals. The leading members of FMP, Alexander von Schlippenbach and Peter Brötzmann, were influenced by Bernd Alois Zimmermann and Nam Jun Paik, in other words, by New Music and contemporary fine arts. FMP expanded its activities to include African music at an early stage, and established cooperative ventures with dancers such as Pina Bausch, Min Tanaka and Kazuo Ohno. This exhibition presented printed documents, interviews, films and videos highlighting various FMP formats and featured the entire production of audio material consisting of almost 500 recordings. The exhibition has been accompanied by lectures, public rehearsals and concerts featuring several generations of international musicians. The cooperative partnership with the Goethe-Institut and the Academy of the Arts in Berlin, which served as the venue for the FMP Free Music Workshop for many years, provided the basis for a comprehensive overview of current international positions and ensured that the exhibition could go on tour to numerous locations outside of Germany.

Artistic director: Ulrich Wilmes
Curator: Markus Müller
Participants: Peter Brötzmann, Rüdiger Carl, Jost Gebers, Nele Hertling, Sven Ake Johansson (SE), Joëlle Léandre (FR), George E. Lewis (US), Jason Moran (US), Alexander von Schlippenbach, Splitter Orchester and others

Additional Venues:

Four weekends with public rehearsals, concerts, workshops and discussions: Haus der Kunst, Munich: 31 Mar. – 2 Apr. 2017; 5–7 May 2017; 19–21 May 2017; 9–11 Jun. 2017