Klangteppich – Festival for Music of the Iranian Diaspora

Klangteppich – A Berlin Festival Concept

Klangteppich originated in 2018 from the observation that Berlin's music scene – despite being positioned as a 'world city of music' – did not adequately showcase the sound worlds of the Iranian diaspora. The Iranian community in Berlin is one of the largest in Europe, and their music moves between worlds: between Persian classical music with its centuries-long tradition, between the underground scenes of Tehran and Isfahan created under sanctions and restrictions, and between Berlin's contemporary experimental scene.

Format

Klangteppich is conceived as a curated festival: two to three festival days, each with two to three concert blocks per evening. Each edition features world premieres – works specifically commissioned by Klangteppich e.V. from artists in the diaspora or in Iran. The curatorial line deliberately crosses genre boundaries: folk alongside heavy metal, sound art alongside traditional classical music, free improvisation alongside electronic avant-garde.

Theater Aufbau Kreuzberg

The main venue is the Theater Aufbau Kreuzberg (TAK) in the Aufbau Haus at Moritzplatz, Prinzenstraße 85 F. The stage with approximately 200 seats offers an intimate concert atmosphere that suits the festival's curatorial concept: not a mass event, but a focused encounter between artists and audience.

Artists and Residencies

Over the years, Klangteppich has built a network of artists – including Hani Mojtahedy, Tanasgol Sabbagh, Sepideh Khodarahmi, Parisa Madani, Yalda Zamani, Alireza Mehdizadeh. The association maintains a residency program where artists work in Berlin for several weeks and develop new works, which are often premiered at the festival.