Photo by Courtney Sofiah Yates for The Wire Magazine
Fire Museum Presents: Masma Dream World and Sunken Cages
Masma Dream World:
With roots in Gabon and Singapore, Masma Dream World is the experimental project led by artist and healer Devi Mambouka.
Masma Dream World invites listeners into a deeply personal and transformative sonic ritual. Her music is an elemental longing, an invocation to ancestors, and a communion with nature, designed to transport you into a scary yet thrilling forest at night.
Her sound meticulously explores the tension between eerie, deep bass and percussive, deconstructed elements, creating emotionally charged atmospheres. Rooted in global bass cultures and her rich heritage, her unpredictable yet intentional compositions incorporate beats, bells, chants, and wails. Field recordings from ancient churches, natural landscapes, and intimate personal spaces blend with mystical practices, evoking a theta-wave meditation into the mind’s deeper crevices.
Masma Dream World’s music pushes the beautiful against the brutal, blending lullabies with cacophony. Songs like PLEASE COME TO ME are a beckoning into darkness, filled with primordial sounds and unsettling moments that put the audience in a trance. Her work is not merely heard but experienced, demanding participation in a gothic love affair with mystery and healing.
Indian-born drummer/electronic music producer Ravish Momin (also known as Sunken Cages), studied with US Jazz master-drummer Andrew Cyrille. He has worked as a sideman with a wide array of musicians including US Jazz legend Kalaparush Maurice McIntyre (AACM/Chicago) and pop-star Shakira. In the past, he led Tarana, a shapeshifting global-Jazz trio, on international and domestic stages for the past 14 years
His current projects include 'Turning Jewels Into Water' (with Haitian electronic music pioneer Val Jeanty), a duo with dragonchild (Ethio-American saxophonist DA Mekonnen of Debo Band) and Zelzeleh (a Digital Sufi Ensemble)
He has recently produced tracks with South African Gqom group Phelimuncasi (Nyege Nyege Records), Saxophonist Maria Valencia (Meridian Brothers), along with producers Makossiri (Hakuna Kulala, Kenya), Saskia (QTV, Brazil), Kush Arora (Discrepant, US), Baba Sy (Jokkoo Collective, Spain/Senegal) and Rani Jambak (Indonesia, Yes No Wave)
He has done remixes for Depeche Mode, global electronic music producers Batida (Portugal), Babani Sound System (Mauritius), and Guedra Guedra (Morocco).
His recent performance highlights include the Free Forma Impulse Festival (Italy), AfroBanana Festival (Cyprus), Words/Beat/ Life Festival (Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage (US)), Big Ears Festival (US), LeGuessWho? Festival (NL), Positive Futures Festival (AT), Lincoln Center Outdoors Festival (NYC, US), Slingshot Festival (US) and Festival Congedi (IT). He is also the recipient of grants from New Music USA, The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, NYC Arts In Education Roundtable, Arts International, Meet The Composer and NYSCA (New York State Council of the Arts)
Admission is FREE (donations greatly appreciated)