Amuleto Manuela was born and raised in Colombia and is now living and working in Berlin as a DJ and sound artist. In both fields she weaves music and sounds into uncompromisingly positional and personal listening experiences, with a focus on but not limited to vinyl records.
The sound artist: Amuleto Manuela’s work as a sound artist includes the crafting of sound scapes, sound sculptures, DJ sets, and listening collective practices, all revolving around listening as its core principle and the quest for spaces of encounter. Born and raised in what we today know as Colombia, she addresses questions of narrative, memory and non official archives from a decidedly positional stance. Among her topics of interest are: Liminal spaces enhanced by sound, the sonic as a place of transformation, temporality, water as a sonic archive, and learning to listen to human and non human beings. She proposes ways of unlearning imposed structures and hierarchies, and instead remembering and imagining alternative ways of inhabiting our collective life experience. Her sonic structures draw as much from her academic studies and research as from her experience as a DJ, from music and sound archives (like vinyl records), field recordings, audio effects, and her own voice, utilizing techniques as loops, echo, repetition and juxtaposition. They have been featured in various institutions, ranging from Kunsthaus Dahlem Brücke-Museum in Berlin, the Museo de la Democracia at nGbk, and the 2021 Listening Biennial at Errant Sound to the Venice Biennale and the 13th edition of the Bamako Encounters – African Biennale of Photography in Mali. Amuleto Manuela hosts the monthly radio show ‘Music Shrine’ on Berlin station Refuge Worldwide and is a sonic researcher and curator at SAVVY Contemporary. As a club and festival DJ she has played numerous stages in Berlin and abroad.
The DJ: Amuleto Manuela started DJing after moving to Berlin. Her highly danceable sets combine music from various African diasporas with a carefully curated vinyl selection of silky Afro-Latin Funk, Soul, and Disco, along with Latin American styles as dusty Boleros, classic and contemporary Cumbias and other genres such as Currulao, Samba, and Guguancó. Each song is chosen from the heart and played with love, transitioning in unexpected ways without ever losing that groove. Amuleto Manuela has played some prestigious festivals in and around Berlin including Fusion, Garbicz, Melt, IN.habit.ans and the Pluri-Rhythm Festival at HKW Berlin, as well Clubs like Yaam, Sisyphos, Kater Blau, Klunkerkranich, Sameheads and Arkaoda. Bookings abroad have led her to play to clubs in Bogóta (KB, Paradisco, Matik Matik, Super Rayo) and move crowds in Barranquilla and Bamako. As a singer and/or spoken word performer she can be heard on productions by Sun Food, Grupo Pisse y las hermanas Martinez, and X.A.Cute.
