Pssound System

From December 2023 to February 2024, a group of MaGe (marginalised gender expressions and identities) people got together at Decoratelier in Brussels to design and build a sound system. The idea behind the workshop was to create a space where participants could share knowledge and skills in construction, woodwork, electronic welding, acoustics and sound system culture.

From this collective and political process, the Pssound was born. For the sake of coherence, and to counterbalance the predominance of white men in Belgium's musical scene - particularly sound system culture - we feel it's important that it retains its political and collective vocation. So we want it to be shared within marginalised communities - the communities that built it.

What's more, our approach as an intersectional feminist collective is deeply anti-racist and anti-colonial. Given the historical context in which sound system culture was born and the powerful symbol it has represented in the struggles of Black and Caribbean communities in the UK, we want to prioritise projects featuring people of Caribbean origin and, more broadly, of Afro descent.

Pssound System is an initiative founded by PSƧT, an intersectional feminist platform standing for more inclusion and representation in the music scene. We create learning spaces (workshops & discussions), and physical tools (a database and a community sound systems) to support MaGe artists, unite communities, share skills and knowledge and connect together.

Pssound System will be represented by two of its collective members: Daya Hallé and Manal Benmalek.

The event is part of the seminar ‘The only ____ system is a Soundsystem...’ by Rangoato Hlasane, PhD.