Faizal Mostrixx
Faizal Mostrixx
dance, choreography, Electronic Music production, visual performance.
Kampala, Uganda
Artist in Residence at Rote Fabrik from April to June 2023
Who is Faizal Mostrixx?
He is a storyteller. An afro-futurist avant-garde music producer, DJ and urban dancer, choreographer, as well as an experimental visual artist. Mostrixx is a visionary grandmaster who creates fearless and poetic narratives through multi-sensory opuses. Advancing bold tales of Africa through a counter-culture prism.
Entirely self-taught, I have forged a creative path from a very young age, my Mother who was a traditional local dancer used to take me to sessions of traditional group dancers singers and percussionist very expressive and colorful plus listening to music tapes my Father would bring back from his trips to Kenya and Congo.
As a dance practitioner I have absorbed different forms of dance, Hip hop, house, contemporary and a variety of music genres, which has led to creating an infectious fresh new sound that weaves regional beats and moods with electronic and hypnotic indigenous urban dances. Now I am driven by the urge to create my own musical and performance hybrids,
My work As a music producer is a collection of electronic exploration where traditional instrumentation is stitched to layered electronic production featuring heavily processed percussions, exuberant samples and fizzing synth basslines. My dance and choreography practice adds a highly visual texture to my live set, again weaving urban components and styles with traditional African motifs.
In 2018, I created a full stage show called “Afro-Aliens”, an intense, multi-media Afro-futurist experience, blending historical references (Ancient Egypt, East African Kingdom) with a science fiction vision of the future, in the vein of what is/was produced by Sun Ra or the imagineers of Black Panther.
I am now interested in developing a visual solo version of this show during my residency at Rote Fabrik, creating experiential content that immerses the audience into my singular world while boosting its engagement. It can translate into different forms (one or all of them combined): from featuring digital elements such as video projections or mapping to building an art installation as a set design.
Eventually with this performance I want to collectively shape perceptions and opinions of the continent and develop a richer telling of Africa’s story, showing an uncompromising vision of an empowered, technologically advanced Africa. In that sense, I see myself as an artist of both change and preservation,engaging in a dialogue that showcases my traditional culture while helping to pave its way in an ever-evolving modern landscape.
Coaching by Tracy September
Courtesy of IG Rote Fabrik and Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia Johannesburg
