grounded outer space people

music ensemble / artist residency

2021 – ongoing

Grounded Outer Space People (G.O.S.P.) is a nomadic music ensemble and artist residency that explores the relationship between transmigration and music.

G.O.S.P. brings together artists with experiences of migration to develop new collaborations beyond their established fields of practice and to share their work with diverse audiences through music and performance. Initiated by Anton Kats, the project is informed by his own experience of displacement after leaving his hometown Kherson, Ukraine, in the early 2000s to avoid military conscription and spending time in asylum accommodation in Dessau, Germany.

Developed in solidarity and collaboration with artists affected by forced migration, the project moves through cultural institutions, music festivals, museums, galleries, and public spaces. By temporarily occupying these sites of cultural production, G.O.S.P. establishes short term working environments in which the ensemble rehearses, produces, and presents artistic work. At the same time, the project seeks practical ways to offer structural and professional support to collaborating artists.

Grounded Outer Space People is interested in creating accessible and shared artistic situations in which diverse experiences of migration and transmigration can be explored and shared through music, performance, and artistic practice.

Residency Dates:

1014, New York: 01.06 – 30.06 2023
Galerie Wedding, Berlin: 13.10 – 18.11.2022
HKW, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin: 20.11.2022 – 31.12.2022
Galerie Wedding: 14.10.2022 – 16.11.2022
Pop-Kultur Festival Berlin: 01.05.2021 – 31.08.2021

Artists in residency:
Aiko Okamoto, Anja Jadrishnikova, Anne Louise Hoffmann, Anna Simakova, Anna Sorokovaya, Byron Kalomamas, Hani Mojtahedy, Jared Maier-Klodt, Khaleed Kurbeh, Marisa Ngkegny, Taras Kovach, Victor Ruban, Vivian Eraslan, Ziggy Zeitgeist

Photo: Camille-Blake at PopKultur Festival Berlin