Arnolfini
Bristol primary exhibitions space also hosts music events.
Known for its gallery space and exhibitions, it's easy to forget that the Arnolfini also hosts some unique music events (1 or 2 a month). Technically the venue excels with its main auditorium boasting a high spec PA, large stage and quality lighting setup.
Unsurprisingly the Arnolfini's (music) programming bears strong links with Bristol's arts scene. While shows are diverse, alt-indie, folk and electronica bookings are undeniably prevalent. Past guests include Dirty Projectors, Polar Bear, Tunng and Tim Hecker.Considering the popularity of experimental, modern music amongst Bristol's art crowd it's worth nothing that such events are popular and frequently sell out well in advance.
Unsurprisingly the Arnolfini's (music) programming bears strong links with Bristol's arts scene. While shows are diverse, alt-indie, folk and electronica bookings are undeniably prevalent. Past guests include Dirty Projectors, Polar Bear, Tunng and Tim Hecker.Considering the popularity of experimental, modern music amongst Bristol's art crowd it's worth nothing that such events are popular and frequently sell out well in advance.
What's On At Arnolfini
— Arnolfini
experimental
workshops & classes
exhibition
— Arnolfini
contemporary classical
experimental
drone
lgbtq+
workshops & classes
Get a feel for Arnolfini
Our recent recommendations for Arnolfini
Double showcase of shorts from a guiding light of diasporic experimental cinema: Larissa Sansour. As If No Misfortune….is a visually astonishing ballet of destruction and surreal beauty, melding Western opera and Palestinian traditional song into an aria for a nation’s trauma.
A double bill of sci-fi and experimental film featuring an Arabic language opera and an exploration of intergenerational trauma in a derelict mansion.
Reem encloses a whole nation in her voice: soaring high on chants and feverish crescendos filled with sacred tradition, modern resistance poetry, fierce pride and a sense of suffering most cannot comprehend. Fusing her own folk research with the rich songbook of the Levant and contemporary jazz practices, it’s hard to pick a more poignant figure of musical unity right now, or a more powerful opening for BPFF.
For Bristol Palestine Film Festival’s opening night, the brilliant and multi-talented singer and songwriter Reem Kelani, with Bruno Heinen on piano.
Innovative avant garde ensemble returns to the Fini after an astounding show for Gavin Bryars' 80th birthday celebrations. They lead a feat of abstract sonic theatrics with surreal on-stage happenings inspired by Alain Robbe-Grillet, plus guest pianist Eliza McCarthy and Anna Pych’s haunting soprano.
Contemporary music collective Phaedra Ensemble present a sonic reworking of Alain Robbe-Grillet's 1957 novel La Jalousie
Sell out warning! Lush improvised soundscapes fill the ‘Fini auditorium in response to the radiant video works of celebrated photographer Rinko Kawauchi. Featuring Tara Clerkin Trio’s delicate avant-pop in an unmissable live melding with one-man pastoral chamber orchestra, Memotone!
A series of sonic responses and live performances to celebrate the opening of Rinko Kawauchi's exhibition 'At the edge of the everyday world'
Cascading contemporary piano brilliance meets concrète textural sound art in this inspired double bill for armchair experimentalists. It’s a rare treat to see frequent Mica Levi collaborator Eliza McCarthy in this intimate a setting, presenting new work in her erudite and meditative minimalist/maximalist style.
A Bristol premier for the London experimental music platform.