lou drago

Lou Drago is a Berlin-based autodidact artist and sonic practitioner working with gathered and created sounds, words, rituals, other beings and affective experiences. Often working with live formats, they draw connections between; the illusory nature of time, the transformative potential of sound and deep listening, the necessity of collectivity and solidarity, queer-anti-racist-feminisms, ecological practices, meditation, dreams and hypnogogic states.

Since 2018 they have been hosting various ‘listening occasions’ that allow guests to practice different ways of listening, being-together and being with oneself, with others. Drago believes in the transformative potential of sound and the importance of deep listening, whether that is listening to each other, our needs, to the more-than-human or to the sounds all around us. Whether in their own music, sound installations, radio broadcasts or dj sets they explore sonic landscapes of the in-between, leaving space for the listener's perspective to imbue the experience, yet ultimately holding them in a warm embrace to invite a deep dialogue with the listening body-mind. Drago’s practice is always collective to varying degrees, and they reject the prevailing notion of a singular artist in favour of acknowledging the multitudes that contribute to any given work. This can be seen in their many collaborative projects, as well as being exemplified in their assembled texts, or texere, New Feathers and Female Copulatory Vocalisation, in which Drago transcribes and arranges fragments of conversations with comrades into prose that reveals the collective (un)conscious of the group.

Since 2020 Drago has been consciously practicing and elaborating a theory of Radical Sociability. Radical Sociability sees social relations not as a given, but as a deliberate, political, ethical, spiritual and imaginative practice. It is an ongoing, iterative practice of transforming the world through intentional changes we effect in ourselves and in our relations with the ‘other’. At it’s core radical sociability invites us to remember who we really are, and our connection to the Earth and each other.

They host sonic seances under the name of infinity rug, with frequent collaborater, marum. infinity rug offers a moment where sound, collective learning and intimate care come together to forge a space of togetherness. The collective also host more frequent Sonic Vigils, where they hold ritual space to honour collective ancestors and make space for mourning. From 2018 - 2025 they curated and produced, t r a n s i e n c e, a regular show on Cashmere Radio, Berlin. For each episode they would create and invite a guest to create an hour-long anxiety alleviating sonic journey with a focus on experimental, ambient and experient music. t r a n s i e n c e has also hosted several listening occasions at Kwia, Berlin where their unique sound world is woven by several guests with energetic hosting and performance from Yuri Shimaoka. Drago is a founding member of XenoEntities Network, Berlin, an artistic and curatorial collective who operated from 2016 - 2020, focusing their research on queer, gender and feminist studies and their interactions with digital technologies. Together they curated performance, film screenings and panel discussions and hosted assemblages; community discussions on a forechosen topic.

They frequently collaborate with other artists and have made work together with/for Isabel Lewis and Dambi Kim, Yen Chun-Lin, Jules Petru, Raphaël Lecoquierre, marum, Simone Auterlony and Jen Rosenblit, Valerie Reding, caner teker, SJ Norman and Cassils, and Yuri Shimaoka. Their work has been shown in a vast range of contexts including Groupius Bau, Berliner Festspiele, SAVVY Contemporary and Hošek Contemporary, Berlin, Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Documenta Fifteen, Kassel, Tanzhaus Zürich and Shedhalle, Zürich, ICA, London, Norberg Festival, Sweden and La Casa Encendida, Madrid among others.


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