2026 Program 

All events are at Dadalab, 2008 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX

FRIDAY October 16 - 7 PM

Experimental video shorts

Curated by Luna Vela

One hour of experimental video shorts from Latine filmmakers and video artists.

SATURDAY - 5 PM - 10 PM

Back In the Neighborhood

Catherine Cisneros and George Cisneros, of Urban-15

A conversation with artists Catherine and GeorgeCisneros, multimedia creators and founders of URBAN-15, an influential arts organization in central Texas for over 50 years. Presentation will include vintage footage of URBAN-15’s first performance on July 21, 1974, at Clark Field and various clips and images from their collaborative and solo installations, performances, gallery pieces, and workshops. Of particular interest will be the story of a small organization of color with extreme experimental tendencies survived within an era that ranges from the end of the Vietnam conflict through the scrutiny of Jesse Helms into today’s crackdown on anything Brown.

Pasados/Futuros

Roco CÓrdova (voice, electronics) w/ collaborators Adam Rosario (percussion) and Karolina Arrocho (dance)

Pasados/Futuros, is a collaborative performance between vocalist, composer, and producer Roco Córdova and percussionist Adam Rosario. Inspired by the title of the festival, Future Traditions, this performance bridges Córdova’s work as a vocal improviser, along with their work as a student of the centuries-old Afro-Puerto Rican musical tradition of bomba. By combining electronic music composition, live vocal processing and traditional bomba instrumentation, the performers pose the following questions: can age-old technologies coexist with modern ones? What will the bomba of the future sound like? What is produced out of the friction between conservation and innovation? This composition is by no means a traditional bomba performance, yet musically it is centered in the structures of its many toques (rhythmic patterns) and their relation to other Caribbean musics. This performance is also deeply mystical, some of its musical materials were inspired by dreams. In many indigenous and Afro-diasporic spiritualities, dreams are a medium in which the world of spirits communicates with humanity. This work aims to be a gathering ground where spirits, orisha, saints, and cemís coexist with aliens, parallel universes and cybernetic enhancements, imagining a Caribbean futurist aesthetic.

About Face

JOEY REYES (CELLO) W/ COLLABORATOR TREY ABRAHAM (video)

About Face is a 50-minute multimedia experience blending live music, projected visuals, and live painting to explore pareidolia, the phenomenon of perceiving faces in inanimate objects. Through recursion and improvisation, artists Joey Reyes (music and projections) and Trey Abraham (live painting) examine themes of identity, emergence, and recognition. Catch this immersive performance at the 2026 Future Traditions Fest.

Abstract Turntablism

Maria ChÁvez (abstract turntablist)

Maria Chávez is best known as the originator of the art practice Abstract Turntablism™ (est. 2000). Abstract Turntablism centers unique physical activation methodologies utilizing turntables, implements, needles, and the breaking of vinyl records. Her approach is rooted in Deep Listening, a form of embodied listening developed by her late mentor Pauline Oliveros. Maria singularly performs with a rare needle known as the RAKE Double Needle invented by Randal Sanden Jr. in 2002. This special device contains two needles on one head, allowing it to read two different segments of a single record simultaneously. As opposed to hip-hop turntablism, whose focus was originally developed on samples for musical formations, Abstract Turntablism is a conceptual practice of sound through the turntable as its own artistic medium differentiated from music. Chávez’s implementation of Abstract Turntablism techniques have resulted in a myriad of presentations outside of the music industry, including live improvised performance, marble sculpture, visual art, book objects, and an extensive history with multi-channel sound installations. Her 2012 book on Abstract Turntablism, Of Technique: Chance Procedures on Turntable, was the first of its kind on the topic and has developed a reputation as both an academic resource and a foundational text for a new generation of turntablists. It contains essays and illustrations of her pioneering Abstract Turntablist practice.

This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.