Scissor Sisters star Ana Matronic will play a DJ set live from New York to mark the opening of a new exhibition at V&A Dundee, celebrating nightclub culture.
The online event to mark the opening of the Dundee exhibition Night Fever: Designing Club Culture will entertain a global virtual audience on Friday May 7.
Tay Late: And the Beat Goes On will take guests on an eclectic night out, beginning in Dundee with virtual visits to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, New York and London, “paying tribute to the diversity and resilience of club culture across multiple cities and communities”.
From Studio 54 to the Haçienda
Ana Matronic is preparing to join the celebration from New York with an exclusive set, playing tracks inspired by some of the world’s most iconic nightclubs featured in the Night Fever exhibition, from Studio 54 to Manchester’s Haçienda.
Writer-musician Kayus Bankole of Mercury Prize-winning Scottish band Young Fathers is part of the Tay Late line-up and will use spoken word, visuals and original sound in a newly commissioned film that explores communal experience, dancing and togetherness.
Ana Matronic, whose real name is Ana Lynch, is known for providing the soundtrack for crowds on dancefloors all over the world. She was previously the co-vocalist with the Scissor Sisters before the band took their current hiatus.
She previously played to a sold-out live audience inside V&A Dundee as part of the University of Dundee’s Festival of the Future in October 2019.
Dancefloor energy in people’s homes
She said she “can’t wait to bring that same dancefloor energy into people’s homes” on the evening of May 7.
The star, who is the host of Dance Devotion on BBC Radio 2, said: “Nightclubs have always been spaces for innovation and exploration, places for finding yourself as well as an escape from the everyday.
“My own personal evolution would not have been as grand or fabulous had I not spent my nights in sweaty, glorious communion with my fellow dancers, drag queens, and denizens of the disco.
‘Priviledge and honour’
“It is my privilege and honour to join forces with V&A Dundee to present Night Fever and pay tribute to the vast culture that not only allows for fun and frivolity, but also for deep connection, self-inquiry and growth.”
Nichol Keene, creative programmer at V&A Dundee, said: “At a time when clubs and communal experiences have been starkly absent from our lives, we are excited to be bringing together designers, DJs, artists, musicians and more to celebrate these important spaces and the people that make them.
“Doing this digitally means we can invite audiences to tune in from all over the world.
“The night will kick-off with a DJ set from Dundee’s very own Le Freak Records before heading over to Dublin for a special Director’s cut of the 2021 mini-documentary Clubbing is Culture – a love letter to Ireland’s nightclubs.
Audio-reactive visuals
“Later we will have moving image work by Glasgow DJ and performance artist TAAHLIAH and Middle Eastern visual and performance artist HUSS. Artist Farah Hussain, who is studying at the University of Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, has contributed a short film inspired by queer spaces.
“The moving image works by TAAHLIAH and HUSS, and by Farah Hussain were created as part of Jupiter Artland’s 2020 Jupiter Rising Residency. Throughout the night, audio-reactive visuals from designer Connor Campbell will punctuate the sets.
“We will be premiering Kayus Bankole’s newly commissioned film featuring spoken word, visuals and original sound.
“In an exclusive DJ set Ana Matronic, will be soundtracking our night from her New York studio before our final stop in London for an after-party with award-winning virtual LGBTIQ+ hosts Queer House Party.”
Clubs from the 1960s to the present day
Free tickets for Tay Late: And the Beat Goes On can be booked online at the V&A website.
Night Fever: Designing Club Culture runs from May 1 2021 to January 9 2022
and is the first large-scale examination of the relationship between club culture and design, charting the evolution of nightclubs from the 1960s to today.
Developed by the Vitra Design Museum and ADAM – Brussels Design Museum, it includes films, photography, posters, flyers, and fashion, as well as a light and music installation.
How nightclub design has changed and developed
From Italy to New York, Paris, Manchester, London, Beirut and Berlin, and into everyone’s homes today through online streaming, the exhibition charts how nightclub design has changed and developed.
The exhibition will include a new section on Scotland’s unique and distinct club culture, including legendary club nights in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Paisley, exploring how the Scottish club scene holds closer ties to the music and influences of Chicago, Detroit and Europe than London clubs.
The exhibition celebrates these critical cultural spaces at a very important moment, a year on from the first coronavirus lockdown.
People’s Postcode Lottery
Night Fever: Designing Club Culture at V&A Dundee is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee, said: “Design is fundamental to our lives, it’s a form of creativity that everyone engages with every day.
‘Precious culture spaces’
“At V&A Dundee we are committed to championing and exploring the many ways that design helps us and brings joy.
“Night Fever: Designing Club Culture is a perfect exhibition to reopen V&A Dundee with. Nightclubs and dancehalls are precious cultural spaces that often play a pivotal role in our lives.
“Night Fever explores the history of nightclub design, looking at how this has changed from Italy in the 1960s right through to everyone’s living rooms today with online streaming of club nights.
“We can’t wait to welcome our visitors back to enjoy the new exhibition, or simply to appreciate the calm sanctuary of Kengo Kuma’s architecture.”
‘Brighter times ahead’
Laura Chow, head of charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said: “V&A Dundee has had a huge impact on local communities and Scottish cultural life since well before it opened in 2018.
“I’m delighted that players of People’s Postcode Lottery have supported the museum for seven years.
“This UK-exclusive exhibition is hugely exciting as we all look forward to brighter times ahead, and it is the perfect time to explore how important design and culture are to our lives and wellbeing.”
Let’s get ready to Rhumba
Key nightclubs featured in the exhibition include:
• The Electric Circus, New York, 1967
• Space Electronic, Florence, 1969
• Studio 54, New York, 1977
• Paradise Garage, New York, 1977
• The Haçienda, Manchester, 1982
• Area, New York, 1983
• Sub Club, Glasgow, 1987 – present
• Kinky Gerlinky, London, 1989
• The Rhumba Club, Scotland, 1991 – present
• B018, Beirut, 1998
• Berghain, Berlin, 2004
• Ministry of Sound II, London, 2015
• The Mothership, Detroit, 2015
Kylie Minogue’s random appearance at local nightclub being auctioned off