Workers in Song is the latest iteration of an ongoing collaborative project by composer Billy Bultheel (b. 1987, Brussels) and visual artist James Richards (b. 1983, Cardiff). At Mudam, Bultheel and Richards present a choreographed performance with live music and film, alongside an installation that probes the tension between liveness, sentimentality and desire in the absence of the living body.

Their hybrid audiovisual performance includes live concerts and screenings in a dark, immersive setting. They take visitors on a journey through a whirlwind of original material and citations, spanning the pleasures of online hookups, underground films and subcultures of bygone eras, as well as the darker dimensions of romantic subjectivity. Informed by the early days of cinema, when silent films were conceived to be presented with live music, and more contemporary forms including mix tapes or expanded cinema events, Bultheel and Richards present a dynamic musical score as a framework to bring their original material into dialogue with work by other artists.

Written, directed and produced by Billy Bultheel and James Richards
Performed by Alexey Kokhanov (voice, piano), Adam Sinclaire (flute), Clara Levy (violin), Julie Michael (viola), Alina Anufrienko (violoncello)
Sound technician: Christophe Albertijn
Styling: wang consulting

The performance Workers in Song at Mudam includes screenings of HEVN by P.Staff (2020), My Name is Oona by Gunvor Nelson (1969) and Studio Floor Rotation by Josh Tonsfeldt (2010).