Over the last three years, Mostra has progressively emerged as a new small-format festival of finely selected experimental electronic music in the heart of Barcellona. As the city experiences a growing presence of mainstream and overcrowded macro-festival, Mostra stands as counterpart to the standardisation of the cultural proposal landscape. Palpebræ took part in the first opening day of the main three in Montjuic Castle and the festival met the expectations.
From March 25th to 31, Mostra offers an alternative artistic experience focused on inclusivity, sustainability, and community engagement. The main three days take place at the historic castle of Montjuic, at 173 metres above the sea level, with a view on Barcelona’s port that breathtakingly matches the soundtrack of the 3-days. The commitment to the festival’s aims is well portrayed by its well defined identity that revolves around the direct involvement of artists, collectives, music enthusiasts, labels as well as the commonly shared cult for electronic music. The line-up for the three days at the castle reflects a balance of local and international artists, creating a contamination of practices and exchanges between subgenres of electronic music. Central to Mostra’s mission is the focus on gender diversity. The festival’s lineup reveals a strong representation of female artists, challenging the longstanding gender gap within the electronic music industry. In a traditionally male-dominated scene, Mostra’s commitment to gender diversity is both groundbreaking and necessary in the sector as a whole.
Mostra also stands as a platform to showcase talents and connect their community. This has been successfully pursued during the previous months by collaborating, under the Extramostra series event, with collectives such as Acquario in Milan, Lowless in Paris, Natural in the Territorio Kumanday (Colombia) but also with Barcellona-based realities like the Red58 club. What clearly emerges is a broader vision to create spaces for artists to perform independently and interconnect realities with the same values, sounds and community-oriented mission.
This combination of well-balanced elements was reflected in the first day line-up. From the opening of Toxido Mask, resident at Tresor Berlin, to the closing of Dj Maria, the Transcendence Tokyo party founder. After setting the stage with deep hypnotic techno and ambient sounds, Sybil followed the same line of Toxido Mask with her unmistakable storytelling through the layering of deep techno, break-beats, drone and drum and bass. Konduku’s set closed the first part of the day in the first stage with a vinyl and digital set characterised by liquid, uptempo and hi-energy sounds perfect for the dancefloor. At sunset, the patio of the Castle became the second stage hosting Forest Drive West first, with a complex, intricate and deep techno set and DJ Maria, at the closing duties with a carefully blended set of techno, acid and trance rhythms. Together, the line-up created a journey laying the groundwork for the two days to come.
As important as a good line-up is, the sound system and the crowd completed the circle of a well-curated electronic music festival. A space of sonic experimentation, sound and innovation, this is the example of curating a small-format festival without giving up on quality and innovation. Looking ahead, we eagerly await the next chapters of Mostra’s journey, looking forward to witnessing how it will evolve and further push the boundaries of the electronic music scene.
