2018 -
Amarus
AMARUS is a curatorial platform for experimental music and critical thinking. Founded in 2018 by Chinese musician Shuyue Zhao and Peruvian musician Luis Sanz—both based in Zürich—. AMARUS supports artistic practices that challenge dominant cultural narratives and foster translocal collaboration. It creates a space for sonic experimentation that intersects with questions of identity, migration, and decolonial practice—bringing together artists from Asia, Latin America, and Europe in dialogue with the Swiss experimental scene.
AMARUS presents work across a broad spectrum of sound-based practices, including free improvisation, noise, free jazz, contemporary music, electroacoustic performance, and interdisciplinary audio research. The platform encourages process-driven and collaborative approaches, centering artists whose work exists at the margins of mainstream cultural production.
Between 2018 and 2024, AMARUS organized seven concerts and one festival, featuring 62 artists and 34 projects in venues across Bern and Zurich. These included: Manongo Mujica (Peru), Vito Willems (Netherlands), Ban Lei (China), Li Jianhong (China), Wang Ziheng (China), Mei Zhiyong (China), Heimatlos (China, France), Christophe Clébard (Belgium, Italy), Carrageenan (Belgium), Luis Alvarado (Peru), Ensemble Kran (Switzerland), Emile Van Helleputte (Belgium), Manuel Troller (Switzerland), Donna Molinari (United States, Switzerland), MM+TT (China, Switzerland), White Pulse (Switzerland), Le Pot (Switzerland), Hans-Peter Pfammatter (Switzerland), Pablo Lienhard (Switzerland), Scree Fucking Junk (Germany), Naked in the Zoo (Germany, France), Kazehito Seki (Japan), ... (Switzerland), Tokar Krzysztof (Poland, Switzerland), Tonto (Italy), White Pulse (Switzerland), Vestas (Netherlands), Del_F64.0 (Germany), Zustand D (Germany), Abraham Wurstkessel (Austria), Emre Sarigöl (Turkey, Switzerland), Maxime Hänsenberger (Switzerland), Radek Rudnicki (Poland, New Zealand), Al Fraser (New Zealand), Manuel Mengis (Switzerland), Lionel Friedli (Switzerland), F.S.P (Ukraine), Tapiwa Svosve (Switzerland), Kay Zhang (Switzerland , Hong Kong), Patrycja Pakiela (Switzerland), Titilayo Adebayo (Switzerland), SitbQ (Netherlands), Wat Takleaw (Switzerland, Thailand), Unprofessional (Germany), Jonatan Uranes (Denmark), Florian Schlessmann (Switzerland), Concepcion Huerta (Mexico), Violeta Garcia (Argentina), Andrea Nucamendi (Mexico), Camilo Angeles (Mexico), Javier Bustos (Argentina), Carlos Quebrada (Colombia), Lara Alarcon (Argentina), Jason Kahn (Switzerland), Caterina de Nicola (Switzerland), Lua Jungck (Switzerland), Melody Chua (Switzerland), Anton Ponomarev (Russia).
Since December 2024, AMARUS has been based in Zurich and is curated and organized by Luis Sanz. The platform remains dedicated to promoting community-oriented experimental music practices and radical sonic experimentation, both within Switzerland and internationally. This is achieved through its own programming as well as through collaborative efforts and partnerships with other event series in Zurich.