Fringe Uncut Ep.7: Overall Progress

Get to know the artists of Buffer Fringe 2023 up close!

Fringe Uncut blog series aims at peaking into the backstage of the 10th edition of the Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival, taking place from the 4th until the 8th of October, including parallel activities and workshops.

This edition hosts Baran Sakar answering questions about their performance “Overall Progress” at Buffer Fringe 2023, their inspiration and more. Read on and get yourself ready to immerse into the world of Buffer Fringe!

Q. Please introduce yourself/your group.

We are childhood friends whom devotes music and the island that we live in. We always kept music as a part of our lives and we plan to do as we grow up.

Q. Can you describe your performance? (the topic you focus on, the main message of the performance, etc)

The performance “Overall Progress” comes from a deep desire to shed light on the multifaceted challenges facing Cyprus. As performers, we are driven by a passion for using our medium to spark ideas and inspire change. The harmonious blend of electronic and acoustic music, combined with multimedia elements and dynamic choreography, is a powerful tool for expressing complex problems of division, statelessness and migration in the region.

Q. What was the inspiration behind this piece?

I have always loved the idea explaining what I feel to people with music, this was the main inspiration for all the pieces that I have made till now. Yet Buffer Fringe gave me an opportunity to reflect the problems of this island and perform it to the audience and I can not think of a bigger inspiration than this.

Q.  Can you tell us a bit about your creative process developing the piece?

We mostly think about the issues that we face in our daily lives and let our feelings control us at that moment and improvise. We record these performances and decide how to work on it. Then we start composing transitions and add new tracks that will boost the feeling that we try to reflect.

Q. How would you describe your performance in relation to the festival theme “Turning Point”?

Normally drums do not have a melodic tones. Because of the theme of the festival “Turning Point” I strongly believe that I can imply the feeling of my performance to the people that will listen to it. The theme reminds me of a turning point of a song and in my opinion one of the best ways to detect the turning point of a song is to listening to the rhythm. That is the linkup I created between my performance and the theme.

Q. Buffer Fringe Festival celebrates its 10th edition this year, yet considering Fringe tradition, it’s quite young. It’s also defined as a festival with an aim to contribute to peacebuilding, in a divided country. What are your thoughts on this, were you aware of the situation in Cyprus before applying, and what are your expectations as a participating artist?

As a Cypriot performer, I am thoroughly aware of this problem. In addition to our performance, the most important part of participating in this event for us, is the protraction of the intimacy and solidarity of our Island

Q.  What should the audience expect?

Our main aim is to make people think about the issues that they have faced in the past in Cyprus and try to place a hope inside their soul with the help of music. So what we actually want is to make the audience feel hopeful for a brighter future.