CHINA: FIREBIRD
In July, we built a new version of FIREBIRD in China, constructed entirely from parts sourced from Chinese car wrecks. The premiere took place on 17 July in Qinhuangdao, Hebei, at the prestigious art center Aranya. Over the next three years, the installation will tour to other Aranya locations across China.
It’s part of our ambition to realize a locally rooted version of our work on every continent; built from local material that has already lived a life of its own.
Aranya is an exclusive, artistic coastal community and luxury resort on the Golden Coast of Qinhuangdao (Beidaihe District), in China’s Hebei province. A special version of FIREBIRD was rebuilt for Aranya using car parts sourced from local Chinese scrapyards. By reconstructing the work with regional materials, the installation connects directly to its environment, while reinforcing its central theme: transformation through reuse.
The origins of FIREBIRD date back to 2016, when we began experimenting with light as a musical instrument. Using discarded tail lights, we created a new kind of orchestra. One where technology, rhythm, and recycling merge into a single expressive medium.
photography: 在野照物所
We’ve been nominated for the brand new Designers Award from the Dutch Theatre Festival for the music and sound of Het Zomeroffer!
We’re incredibly proud that this award now exists, and that we’re part of its very first, historic group of nominees.
The music of Het Zomeroffer is a liberal adaptation of Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps. It was composed by Touki Delphine for seven musicians and an installation of taillights and car horns, performed by musicians from Asko|Schönberg and Touki Delphine themselves.
Sound wizard Will-Jan Pielage designed the entire auditory landscape of the production.
July 4 – 6, 2025 at Down The Rabbit Hole, Groene Heuvels, Beuningen, Netherlands.
Fresh from the United States, where Touki Delphine, by invitation, emptied American car graveyards to build a transatlantic version of their iconic installation. FIREBIRD has already lit up the deserts of Utah and the coasts of California. This fall, the journey continues at renowned festivals and museums in New York, Arkansas, and New Hampshire. But first: back home for the Dutch summer festival season.
June 13 – 22, 2025 at Oerol in Terschelling, Netherlands.
DRIFTING, Touki Delphine’s new work, is a new ecosystem built from nothing but waste: ethernet cables from thrift shops, windshield washer fluid reservoirs and their pump motors from junkyards, and salvaged speaker cables from Touki’s own studio. The piece comes alive in live sessions, where musicians engage in dialogue with the installation: An underwater world, deep in the forest.