'CARBON IS THE NEW BLACK' at Musica Electronica Nova Festival 2025 [photos]

See the photos from Małgorzata Walentynowicz recital at Red Hall, The National Forum of Music during Musica Electronica Nova Festival 2025 (17.05.2025) performing the new revisited version of CARBON IS THE NEW BLACK for solo performer by Monika Dalach Sayers.

Małgorzata Walentynowicz is one of the leading Polish pianists, and a member of Ensemble Garage whose activity focuses on performing the latest music. She is keen to enter completely new performative roles, engaging in various layers of musical narrative. During the recital, Walentynowicz interpreted compositions by Monika Dalach Sayers, Sarah Nemtsov, Piotr Peszat and Mathias Monrad Møller for piano and electronics – their authors more and more often take up the cross-over aspects of nature and consumerism.

About CARBON IS THE NEW BLACK:

“Will you wear me today? Maybe tomorrow? The titular quote, from Monika Dalach Sayers’ CARBON IS THE NEW BLACK, highlights the fleeting nature of modern products. It is widely believed that the fashion industry is the second largest source of pollution in the world after the oil industry. We increasingly buy more clothes and throw away more of them. The “take-use-bin” model leads to huge amounts of waste, and the rapid mass production of clothes stimulates the culture of using and throwing away. Clothing is increasingly becoming disposable – we buy more often, and what we buy, we wear once. Instead of repairing, we throw away and buy new garments. We have forgotten how to take care of our belongings. As many as 85% of all textiles end up in landfills or are burned every year, and only 15% are recycled or go into second circulation. What price will we have to pay for impulsively satisfying the need to possess? is the question asked by Monika Dalach Sayers in the composition CARBON IS THE NEW BLACK for midi keyboard, playback and video. The title draws attention to the thoughtlessness of human actions that will become a liability to future generations.

Photo caption: Sławek Przerwa / Joanna Stoga / NFM