Genk (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – OMIRI is the ongoing electro-folk music project of Portuguese musician Vasco Ribeiro Casais, which was conceived on a basic yet daring principle, that is to say, reinventing sounds that are familiar and traditional by means of recording them and turning them into new compositions. Having worked this way in different parts of Portugal for over ten years, Casais decided to bring OMIRI to another part of the world for the first time. Genk became the city where the Portuguese musician decided to present his project. The idea to visit Genk belonged to artist Koen Vanmechelen and his platform LABIOMISTA, and during the last year Casais toured Genk filming and recording its sounds and voice of more than 150 citizens.
How was the Genk soundscape collected over a year?
In the case of the Genk iteration of OMIRI, there is continuity with the process followed by the project but in a totally different geographical and cultural context. It took around 12 months for Casais to collect voices, sounds, songs and noise from kitchens, workshops, barbershops, bakeries, football grounds and academies. The idea was to make sure that both the mining history and modern urban culture of the place are reflected in the work through recording miners’ choirs as well as Genk rappers. These recorded sounds are not used only as a texture in the background but form the rhythmic and melodic base of an hour-long danceable electro-folk piece.
Who is performing live when OMIRI lands in Genk?
Although over 150 people donated content to the work through fieldwork, a smaller number of contributors will take part in the performance on stage along with Casais. The show will include diverse Genk talent on the podium, such as Nektaridoo, hip-hop band De Twins, and Lara Koyuncu playing the oboe and singing, plus Genk choirs. A video clip from MijnGenk about the closure of the Zwartberg mine and featuring Chaz, a rapper, will be incorporated into the composition. Such a combination of community choir, classical musicians, and hip-hop performers symbolizes the primary goal of the project – allowing different cultures to merge without suppressing their differences.
As Casais puts it,
“Genk has a rich sound DNA. The city has a distinct industrial history and exceptional cultural diversity,”
adding,
“You can hear that connectedness reflected in the music: the different traditions and voices come together in the composition, in which the differences do not disappear, but remain audible.”
Where and when will the OMIRI Genk performance take place?
The OMIRI Genk performance is scheduled for Saturday, 5 September, in Zwartberg, in the heart of the Nieuwe Kempen district. The choice of location is deliberate: Zwartberg’s mining history and its evolving neighbourhood identity sit at the centre of the sonic material Casais has collected. The concert is presented as part of OpUnDi Genk, an initiative focused on talent development, culture, education and community work in and around LABIOMISTA. Admission is free but capacity is limited, in line with LABIOMISTA’s studio‑based events that prioritise intimacy and direct engagement between artists and local audiences.
Why do organisers call OMIRI a portrait of the city?
For Koen Vanmechelen, OMIRI Genk is a practical demonstration of his belief that global culture grows out of deeply local encounters. Vanmechelen, whose LABIOMISTA platform has hosted numerous interdisciplinary residencies in Genk, frames the project as evidence that
“the global exists only thanks to the generosity of the local.”
He argues that
“Vasco mixes and blends, crosses and creates something global from many local traditions and sounds.”
