a musical AND ARTISTIC collaboration
GIDI & MATI
English:
Gidi and Mati’s artistic project is a poetic and musical collaboration that reflects the cultural origins of both artists. Gidi, a multi-instrumentalist, draws inspiration from Turkey, Argentina, Israel, and the international soundscape of Berlin. Mati’s writing is influenced by his heritage from Baghdad, Syria, Iran, and Israel, exploring the meeting of his Arab and Jewish identities. Together, their work dissolves boundaries, forming a unique fusion that is constantly evolving, where words and music merge into a space without borders.
At the heart of this musical-poetic *banquet* lies improvisation: Farhi and Shemoelof respond to each other through music and language while engaging the audience emotionally. Spontaneous impulses flow into the performance, bridging memory and cultural renewal. Through participatory formats—written, dialogical, and musical—art becomes a space for encounter.
Berlin serves as a symbolic setting, representing the disrupted Jewish culture of the city and its revival through the complexity of diverse diaspora experiences. The performance intertwines individual biographies with collective memories, demonstrating how Hebrew resonates anew in music and poetry. Lost stories of forgotten individuals merge with urban history.
In the transition from sound to poetry, Jewish history is rendered emotionally tangible in miniatures. Simultaneously, the fusion of singing, emotional chorus, and spoken word symbolizes an open future in which Hebrew in Germany finds new meaning and unlocks new spaces.
Through music, language, and visual elements, the project creates a platform for dialogue and participation. Functioning as a *third space* (as described by Homi Bhabha), it embraces ambiguity, inviting audiences to perceive memory and identity as fluid experiences—especially in a city like Berlin, characterized by constant transformation.
German:
Dass Musiker und Komponist Gidi Farhi, Autor und Kurator Mati Shemoelof sowie Dramaturg Thomas Schütt in unterschiedlichen künstlerischen Disziplinen tätig sind, begünstigt ihr gemeinsames Streben nach Innovation und regt eine intensive multiperspektivische Auseinandersetzung mit Themen wie Identität, Migration, interkulturellem Dialog und der Erschaffung von Orten für alternative Diskurs- und Begegnungsformate an. Shemoelofs Konzept einer transnationalen Dichtung liefert den wesentlichen Anhaltspunkt, weshalb sich die drei Künstler auf einen ästhetisch mehrsprachigen Diskurs geeinigt haben, in dessen Verlauf aus der Prospektivkraft der Poesie gesellschaftliche Impulse geformt werden sollen.
About the album that will be released on 2026
You can find the Gidi & Mati YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@GidiMati
After the performances, Gidi & Mati recorded 14 songs in Hochspannung Studios with the well-known technician Alex Folonarito in Berlin. The release of Gidi & Mati's first album is scheduled for next year (2026). All of the music was composed by Gidi Farhi, while Mati Shemoelof was responsible for all of the lyrics. The renowned translator Gundula Schiffer is responsible for the German translations of all the lyrics. At the two shows, Gidi & Mati had two different German-speaking collaborators who introduced them and read the English and German translations of the poems.