Polish festival announces ban on photos and film in honour of its Interference theme.

For its next edition, organisers of the Krakow electronic and experimental music festival are imposing a ban on all photography and filming of live shows. This ban ties to the Interference theme of the 2013 edition of the leading festival. The modern condition of attending live shows only to have your sight of the stage or performers obscured by a sea of phones is a common pet peeve for many, and Unsound‘s approach – which includes no official media passes and a request for the audience to respect the ban – is a refreshing attempt at forcing people to reconsider the modern habits we now take for granted.

Speaking on the ban, Unsound’s artistic director Mat Schulz said: “Our aim is to encourage our audience to focus on being in the moment, and not distract others out of that moment. We want to question the automatic tendency to place photos and videos of concerts on-line, be it on social networks, music websites or video streaming platforms, to put some tiny glitch in the constant bombardment of images, today’s main tool of communication. The ban will not be policed by security guards, this is going to be a community action – if you see someone next to you filming, ask them politely to stop.”

While the ban is in effect an official photographer will be recording certain key events for posterity while audio from some of the performances will be recorded, archived and also broadcast via NTS Radio, London’s budding community radio.

This announcement comes with a new round of artists added to the line up. They include: Pantha du Prince and the Bell Laboratory, who will perform a unique collaborative piece called Elements of Light; Dream Cargoes, a coming together of Roly Porter and Keith Fullerton Whitman collaborating with video artists Lucy Benson and Marcel Weber (MFO) on a piece inspired by a J.G. Ballard story; Poland’s Jacaszek and music ensemble Kwartludium as well as classical quartet Kwadrofonik; Hyperdub’s Laurel Halo, who returns following her appearance at the festival in 2011; and from the UK Powell and Samuel Kerridge.

If you live in London you can get a taste of what Unsound has to offer with a four-day event from September 26 to 29 that will feature Karenn, Forest Swords, Helena Hauff, King Midas Sound, Anthony Naples and more.

Head to the official Unsound website for more details on this year’s event and to purchase tickets.