Sound stuff: Tri Minh, organiser and creator of the Hanoi Sound Stuff Festival, will also perform at the event. — File Photo

HA NOI — The Hanoi Sound Stuff Festival, the only electronic and experimental music event in the country, will hit the capital on April 13 and 14.

According to festival organiser Tri Minh, the initiative will push the boundaries for electronic and experimental music in the country by presenting creative cross-border collaborations between international and Vietnamese musicians as well as by adding visual artists and installations to the mix.

The first day of the event will include a sit-down electronic show featuring Japanese, Danish and Vietnamese artists in the courtyard of the Viet Nam National Museum of History. The second day will see DJs from Germany, England, Austria and Viet Nam perform alongside the screening of a selection of short films.

This year's festival will take place in collaboration with Hue Festival where artists will perform on April 10 while a number of master classes for musicians and music students take place at both events.

The first ever Art Talk will take place in Ha Noi, where audiences will have the opportunity to converse with German, Austrian and Vietnamese artists about their experiences as experimental and electronic artists.

"We want to create a unique world of quality electronic and experimental music and art with boundary-pushing sounds, creative performances and collaborations between international and Vietnamese artists to spur an interest among young Vietnamese audiences", Minh says.

The festival will support the Ha Noi-based Sao Mai (Morning Star) Centre by raising funds to cover school fees for poor and disabled children as well as by organising a "music afternoon" with Danish artist Michael Moller at which students can participate on April 13.

The 2012 festival, in its fifth year, will feature Tim Exile (UK), Sven VT (Germany), Sweet Susie & Manni Montana (Austria), the Haruka Nakamura Group (Japan), Michael Moller (Denmark) and the Tri Minh Group (Viet Nam).

Minh, also an electronic artist, founded and organised the Hanoi Sound Stuff Festival in 2008, making it the first electronic artist exchange music festival in the country.

In 2011, 13 international and eight Vietnamese artists performed to an audience of around 3,000 across two days.

Festival tickets are currently available at the Goethe Institute at 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. — VNS