Saxman Rolf Erik Nystr�m headlines at ON teh Edge of Wrong.

Atiyyah Khan

WHY would a group of Norwegians make an annual trek to South Africa to put on a music festival? “Because we’re stupid” they laugh. But considering that On the Edge of Wrong is the only kind of improvised music festival that exists here, providing a valuable service by presenting ear-opening music, the fact that they receive no local funding is cause for concern.

For the past seven years, Morten Kristiansen has organised On the Edge of Wrong in various intimate venues in Cape Town – which, if you experienced any, were some of the most memorable musical happenings in the city.

The image of Carlo Mombelli playing an amplified handsaw – or a drummer sitting on the floor banging frenetically on a cymbal – are clear vignettes of musical exploration that stand out. Kristiansen, now armed with a team of facilitators, will present the next instalment of On the Edge of Wrong festival from Monday until Saturday. About returning to town, Kristiansen says, “It feels very different from the first time. We now have a good idea of what makes a festival work. We are introducing new things this year.”

Aside from the music line-up, the festival has expanded on a number of levels. The first is that it has found a permanent space with brand new jazz club, The Mahogany Room. Kristiansen comments, “It feels like a little breathing space for me and for artists on the festival, because there aren’t any venues like this – that let you do whatever you want.”

A new addition is Conversations, which as suggested are artists in discussion about music. Often performances can isolate audiences if they feel confused by what they’ve seen – this is a way to facilitate understanding. The programme is organised by Andreas Delsett, co-founder of the Norwegian art publishing house Feil Forlag. These discussions will happen between or before performances and allow musicians to explain their creative process. Kristiansen says the idea has been a long time coming, but was finally facilitated by Delsett.

Another new addition to the festival is DIVERSE Diverse – an initiative by Norwegian visual artist Ørjan Moen, an old friend of Kristiansen’s. In the spirit of improvisation, Moen will be available throughout the week for a Drawing Club at The Mahogany Room. The goal is to exchange ideas, techniques and artworks. The reasoning behind this is to encourage artists to collaborate and not create work in isolation. The Mahogany Room will be an exhibition space in progress. The Drawing Club is a great opportunity for local artists to network.

In September, Moen will take work from South African artists to the next instalment of DIVERSE Diverse in Norway, so local artists are encouraged to participate.

As usual, the music line-up is a collaboration of musicians from Europe and South Africa. This year audiences can look forward to Swiss duo MorFrom who combine field recordings with improvised guitar and organ. Headliner Rolf Erik Nystrøm is a saxophonist who will be performing solo, conducting workshops and also leading the Explorers Summit – a big band with revolving members. Nystrøm has had more than 100 works written for him by contemporary composers. Kristiansen says, “We’re very lucky to have him. He plays all over the world.”

Local drummer Andre Swartz will perform for the first time at the festival and dynamic Mozambican drummer Texito Langa returns to the festival to perform solo. Tune Recreation Committee (TRC) is the brainchild of trumpeter Mandla Mlangenis and includes Keenan Ahrens (guitar), Brydon Bolton (bass) and Claude Cozens (drums). Kristiansen says he was drawn to them because of their strong connection to improvised music.

Conceptual sound artist James Webb will present Telepylos, described as an ongoing work of sonic science fiction inspired by cinematic mythology. Cape Town-based artist and musician Josh Ginsburg’s works are an exploration in still image, film, sound and text. South African performance artist Leila Anderson, who performed at last year’s festival, will collaborate with Stan Wannett from the Netherlands on Afrika Lag [deel 2], a collage of live action animation and sound.

Not to be missed is The Oslo Experience with dancer Magnhild Rem Fossum who will trigger sound with the movement of her body. She is joined by sound artist Mats Sivertsen for a piece that examines the human condition in a techno-crazed world. Completing the line-up is multi-instrumentalist Maxim Starcke and percussionist Ronan Skillen.

The festival receives funding mostly from Norwegian arts organisations and also Prohelvetia Swiss Arts Council. While the organisers joke about why they continue to stage the festival here, on a serious level they add that aside from being rewarding, it “provides value of thinking outside the box” to audiences.

l Events take place daily throughout next week. The Drawing Club will run from 2pm at The Mahogany room (79 Buitenkant Str) and is free. Each night’s music programme starts at 7pm and tickets are R80 for the entire evening. Other venues this year include Commune 1 (64 Wale Street, CBD) and Theatre Arts Admin (Cnr Wesley and Milton roads, Observatory). See www.edge ofwrong.com/2012.