We kick off the first night of CTM Festival and ICA London’s 2025 collaboration with an evening of raw frequencies and fractured visions: here, rhythm becomes architecture and sound carves space into a beast most primal, dangerously hypnotic, and unrelentingly alive.

English-born, Scotland-based artist and producer KAVARI brings her high-energy, genre-defying live show. Aurals rooted in brutalist bass, industrial, dubstep, and deconstructed club charge KAVARI’s performances with the nastiest rhythms and drums, intricate sound design, and bleakly emotive interludes. Drawing inspiration from found-footage horror and video games, her music summons an atmosphere both visceral and cinematic to push the mind onto the subway tracks of imagination.

Experimental duo emptyset present »Dissever«, a live iteration of their sixth album exploring the intertwined histories of cosmic rock, minimalism, and electronic music. Initially performed at Tate Modern as part of the »Electric Dreams« exhibition, »Dissever« reimagines sonic futures through raw improvisation and early studio techniques, utilizing heavy visual components and lasers from German visual artist MFO. The project draws from the duo’s broader research and collaborations as well, including Purgas’ investigations into South Asian sonic histories and Ginzburg’s work with experimental ensemble Osmium. With recordings captured in single takes at Mat Sampson’s Bristol studio, the performance connects foundational 20th-century production methods with transcendent soundscapes—hypnotic, expansive, and transformative. 

This event is the first of three nights at Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) London, supported by the Goethe-Institut London. The programme will feature artists mutating folk traditions into the present, deep-diving into the materiality of electronic sound, and manifesting offbeat connections through disjointed narratives and madcap performance. This third collaboration between CTM x ICA again aims to immerse visitors into the intersections between music, visuals, and performance, highlighting both organisations’ longtime commitment to pushing artistic dialogues across forms and practices.

Event Information:

• ICA Membership discounts do not apply for this event.
• This event is 18+, general admission, standing.
• This event may contain the use of haze, fog and flashing lights.
• We have a small raised platform to accommodate wheelchair users or others who require a chair. To request, please purchase a ticket, then contact 020 7930 3647 or access@ica.art
• Full access information available here
• There will be a paid cloakroom available for this event. Tickets are £2.50 per item and are available to purchase at the box office.