aja monet, KMRU, Los Thuthanaka and Tropical Fuck Storm announced as guest curators for 20th anniversary of Le Guess Who?

For twenty years, Le Guess Who? has remained committed to celebrating cultural exchange and facilitating conversations through music that transcends borders. As part of this ethos, they will be hosting four guest curators to shape the line-up with diverse selections. American poet and activist aja monet will be returning to the festival following her 2024 performance, a highlight of Arooj Aftab's curation.

Her programme explores themes of resistance, love and the inexhaustible quest for joy, with performances to be expected from artists including British musician and composer SHABAKA, Afropunk duo Tshegue, Palestinian Sound Archive, and more. American sibling duo Los Thuthanaka have curated a line-up which explore Indigenous Andean culture through a contemporary experimental, electronic and psychedelic lens, featuring Italian ambient musician and composer Gigi Masin, Japanese noise rock band Melt-Banana, and more.

Australian art punk band Tropical Fuck Storm will be offering a curated line-up that's "a little wild", combining sonic inspirations including guitarist Bill Orcutt, NYC guitarist and composer Chuck Roth, Japanese avant-garde sound artist FUJI|||||||||||TA, and more. The final curator is sound artist Joseph Kamaru, aka KMRU, who will be presenting his eight-hour sound performance WAI8, with nine performers involved in the project, including French producer Aho Ssan, Japanese composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Koshiro Hino, Norwegian artist Carmen Villain.

Additionally, Le Guess Who? has curated a programme of artists including American ambient-experimental musician Ana Roxanne, Argentine singer-songwriter Juana Molina, ambient dream-pop artist Grouper, Japanese composer and saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu, British electronic producer Loraine James, spiritual dub duo Holy Tongue, and more, as some of the first additions to this year's line-up.

As part of the 20th anniversary festivities, a number of special programmes will be presented at Le Guess Who?, including 24 HOUR DUB, which is a 24-hour session of continuous dub sounds from 4PM on Saturday, 7 November, through 4PM on Sunday, 8 November, at Utrecht's KABUL à GoGo. The line-up includes The Bug vs Ghost Dubs, CARISTA, Greentea Selecta, and more.