So says the drum (BRA / DE)

“So Says the Drum” is a project by Cologne‑based artists Bella Comsom and Bruna Cabral, a homage to the drum as an ancient technology and encrypted language. In Brazilian culture, percussion becomes a grammar of silence, pulse, and resistance. The project explores drumming beyond its musical function, understanding it as a medium of communication, collective memory, and spiritual, healing, and political forces. The live performance combines ritual, improvisation, and technological experimentation to create new forms of transmedial sound art.

At moers festival, the project premieres with a special edition inspired by Curupira—an Amazonian‑Brazilian legend about a mythical guardian of the forest who disorients intruders with his whistle. Spatially arranged whistles evoke his presence, while drums trigger light and electronic elements that unfold in a dark, misty space, conjuring the atmosphere of an enchanted forest.

“So Says the Drum” is supported by Musikfonds e.V.