Sonic Acts Biennial 2026: Melted for Love
“Taking place in Amsterdam from 5 February to 29 March 2026 – with the intensive festival weekend running from 26 February to 1 March – the Sonic Acts Biennial, Melted for Love is spread across more than 80 events and 15 venues. The programme features cutting-edge performances, adventurous sound experiments, and multidisciplinary art by more than 200 international and local artists.
The Sonic Acts Biennial 2026 aims to offer a sanctuary for those searching for the sounds of home. As borders shift, voices are drowned out, and hostility intensifies, hospitality must be reimagined – not only as a gesture, but as a quiet rebellion against the forces that seek to divide us. With open ears and full hearts, we listen, attuned to the sounds, songs, transmissions, and resonances that hold us close to one another.
The title of the Sonic Acts Biennial 2026, Melted for Love, is inspired by a poem by the Palestinian national author Mahmoud Darwish, whose evocative verses speak to longing, loss, and resilience. Guided by collective listening practices, the programme brings together a wide array of artists, musicians, and thinkers across multiple iconic venues, such as Paradiso, Muziekgebouw, W139, Arti et Amicitiae, Rozenstraat – a rose is a rose is a rose, Stedelijk Museum, Eye Filmmuseum, Zone2Source, De Ateliers/Woonhuis, Het Documentaire Paviljoen/IDFA Institute, Oude Kerk, murmur, Singelkerk, Garage Noord, Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum, and Rijksakademie, alongside a special collaboration with Framer Framed.
In a world marked by crises, conflict, and displacement, we all long for a place to call home. But what happens when these places fail to offer a safe refuge, or when they are no longer within reach, taken from us, or lost to time? Melted for Love reimagines home, not as a physical structure, but as a site of invitation, attentiveness, and care. It envisions a place built not from brick and mortar, but from kinship, solidarity, and the power of connection. Here, to be ‘melted for love’ means to dissolve into gentleness, allowing closeness to overcome distance, and creating a foundation for a new kind of belonging.”
