Le Guess Who?’s global vision is further cemented with COSMOS: a worldwide, ever-growing music community for which we collaborate with eight different partners from across the globe (‘Embassies’) each year. Through films, interviews, performances and live radio, these Embassies give an insight into their respective local music scenes.
In 2024, COSMOS collaborates with the following Embassies, who each present commissioned short documentaries about their local scenes. The films are both, screened at the festival as well as freely available online via leguesswho.com/cosmos. In addition, representatives of the Embassies are going to attend Le Guess Who? to perform, host screenings, and appear on panels and live radio broadcasts.
• UMA (Detroit, USA)
With the slogan KNOW THE PAST. CHANGE THE FUTURE., Detroit’s Underground Music Academy is a utopian space for the city's aspiring musicians to learn about the history, creation and business behind electronic music.
• Honiunhoni (Karachi, Pakistan)
Rooted in the ethos of ethnographic research, Honiunhoni celebrates Pakistan's cultural richness and diversity through meticulous curation and promotion of (the often marginalized) indigenous folk and classically trained musicians.
• Touching Bass (London, UK)
Touching Bass is a community-come-club night, celebrated record label, staple NTS Radio show, concert series and curatorial studio. It has steadily established itself as one of London’s most important musical incubators, gaining cult status for its community spirit, musical eclecticism and intentional approach.
• Le18 (Marrakech, Morocco)
A multidisciplinary cultural and residency space, LE 18 is a collective learning platform to engage with and critically tackle the dynamics, processes, and infrastructures which shape the cultural, political, and economic lives of their local ecosystem and its place in a global context.
• Santuri East Africa (Nairobi, Kenya)
​​A community-focused music innovation hub, Santuri East Africa’s goal is to bring about a more equitable, authentic, and diverse music industry. For a full decade, Santuri has been supporting, highlighting, and releasing a mix of contemporary and traditional music from many regions of Africa.
• Seoul Community Radio (Seoul, South Korea)
Seoul Community Radio (SCR) is South Korea’s premier community radio station. Established in 2016, Seoul Community Radio (SCR) is a multi-platform online broadcaster at the center of Asia’s fast-growing electronic music community, created by the scene for the people that make it great.
• U? (Utrecht, the Netherlands)
U? is the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?. With the mission to amplify local and creative communities from the fringes, U? serves as a radical playground for experimentation, co-creation and conversation.
• ICRN (Vilnius, Lithuania)
Bringing together DIY broadcasters from the Baltics and beyond, the Independent Community Radio Network (ICRN)’s mission is to create a transnational network of like-minded broadcasters who support each other with their knowledge, resources, equipment and bandwidth.
Fore more info, visit www.leguesswho.com/cosmos
Design:
Ricardo Leite & Marta Veludo
Music:
they were just too far away
KMRU
kmru.bandcamp.com/track/they-were-just-too-far-away