Conversations | PERFORMANCE: Aho Ssan with ASIA, Children of Noise

This performance took place at Maison Ducasse – Baccarat, 11 Place des États-Unis 75016 Paris

Children of Noise is a collaborative work by electronic and acousmatic musician Aho Ssan and classically influenced artist Asia Jiménez. This ambitious project explores the notion of musical noise, interpreting sounds not as parasites, but as constitutive elements of a new form of sound expression, inspired by the idea that noise, often perceived as a disturbance, can be transfigured into a rich and complex musical experience.

Children of Noise reinvents the codes of music by fusing Aho Ssan’s electronic universe with the depth and structure of Asia Jiménez’s classical music. Together, they create a work that pushes the boundaries of traditional composition, while paying homage to the sonic textures of noise.

Paris-based artist Niamké Désiré performs under the name Aho Ssan. After studying graphic design and cinema, he began to compose electronic music and create his own digital instruments. His debut LP Simulacrum was released in February 2020 via Subtext Recordings. Based on Jean Baudrillard’s concept of the same name, it navigates through society’s presentation of inclusivity and equality contrary to his own experience of growing up black in France. His work has been presented in various institutions across Europe and the United States including the Lincoln Center, New York; Maison de la Radio, Paris; CTM Festival, Berlin; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona; Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam; and the Krakow Philharmonic. In 2022, he released a collaborative album Limen with the artist KMRU and is also part of the SHAPE+ artist platform. He recently released the solo album Rhizomes on Nicolas Jaar’s Other People label.

Violinist Asia Jiménez Antón de Vez, known as ASIA, has been artist-in-residence at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris since 2023. She received her Artist Diploma from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London under the tutelage of renowned professors David Takeno and Andras Keller. She previously studied at the Royal College of Music in London, with professors Leonid Kerbel and Daniel Rowland. She has performed in venues including the Teatro La Fenice in Venice; the National Theatre in Shanghai; the Wigmore Hall in London; the Palau de la Música in Barcelona; St. Martin-in-the Fields, London; Düsseldorf Cathedral; and Buckingham Palace. ASIA regularly visited violinist Ivry Gitlis in Paris, from whom she received advice on many occasions. She has also been able to learn from artists such as Eberhard Feltz, Menahem Pressler, and Nicholas Angelich, among others. Keen on interdisciplinary collaboration, ASIA has been developing new compositions during her Paris residency. Recent collaborators include DJ Ikram Boulum; pianist Evelyne Berezovsky; and artist Lydia Ourahmane.

The Art Basel Paris 2024 Conversations program is curated by Pierre-Alexandre Mateos and Charles Teyssou.