The biggest audience outside Poland for Unsound comes from the UK. Producing a version of the festival in London as a lead up to Unsound Krakow this year is a logical development of this existing interest, as well as our mission to reach out to new audiences.

It is an opportunity to bring artists or projects to London that wouldn’t usually appear, especially in such combinations. The program features an Unsound-commissioned work in the form of "Concealed" by Demdike Stare, Michael England and string players from Sinfonietta Cracovia, which emphasizes our festival's reputation for fostering new cross-border works. There is also the first UK show in more than three decades from dark ambient pioneer Lustmord, one of several artists we have encouraged to come out of performative hibernation and return to the stage in recent editions.

But perhaps most importantly, at the heart of the program is a focus on the current Polish music scene, with Polish artists placed alongside their counterparts from UK, Austria and Germany. We hope that the inclusion of these artists not only draws attention to their talent, but sparks new work to be created between the UK and Poland in the future.

Producing an Unsound event in another country is always a collaborate effort, a unique kind of trans-border experiment, made possible through the efforts of a range of presenters and partners from both countries. The Polish Cultural Institute in London and Krakow's Unsound Productions and Fundacja Tone are presenters, whilst the programme spans events at the BFI Southbank, Barbican Centre and Dalston’s Café Oto, and a night at Corsica Studios presented with BleeD. Further support has been provided by the Goethe-Institut London and the Austrian Cultural Forum.