The all-new Museum Of Modern Electronic Music (MOMEM) will open in Frankfurt in October. The museum will pay homage to electronic music’s past while also looking into its future. With a series of high-tech interactive experiences and immersive storytelling, the multi-roomed, sensory-stimulating museum will connect you to sound and light. It will feature meticulously curated exhibitions of electronic music’s most iconic moments, artists, flyers, logos, and artworks, and will transport you to a new world of adventure.
MOMEM founder and how the idea was born
Director Alex Azary, who was inspired by his long-time friend, partner, and Technoclub founder Andreas “Talla” Tomalla, who came up with the initial idea for the museum in 2011, is in charge of the museum. From 1984 to 2000, Technoclub was Frankfurt’s first weekly techno event, and it was hosted at the legendary Dorian Gray, where Alex and Talla promoted it from 1987 to 2000. As a result, Azary is one of Frankfurt’s most prominent cultural activists. He brings a unique perspective, wealth of experience, and authentic understanding to this new project as a passionate music lover, DJ, and producer who has had a huge influence on the scene since the 1990s.
Who is Alex Azary, the founder of MOMEM?
In his hometown of Frankfurt, Alex Azary is one of the most prominent cultural activists. He is the ideal candidate to be the Director of the city’s brand new MOMEM, aka the Museum Of Modern Electronic Music, because he is a passionate music lover, DJ, and producer who has had a huge influence on the scene since the 1990s.
He was one of the cornerstones of Frankfurt’s music and club scene, having witnessed and experienced firsthand the emergence of the international electronic movement in the 1990s. He toured the world, performing at all major festivals and cult clubs.
As a result, his contributions to club culture and electronic music development should not be overlooked. He is one of the movement’s true innovators and pioneers, and his most recent project perfectly encapsulates his experiences in those fields. The world’s first museum dedicated to electronic music and club culture, MOMEM – Museum Of Modern Electronic Music, will open in Frankfurt later this year.
Azary’s main driving force is his interest in and passion for new and innovative music and sound. Using MOMEM to document this could be his most ambitious project yet.
What actually is MOMEM?
MOMEM can be compared to a black box, which serves as a universal stage and open space for unrestricted imagination and experience. Music is movement; it elicits emotions and motions, and this is what will be conveyed in this one-of-a-kind setting. It will have areas ranging from storytelling to live experience, and it will be a place to gain a new perspective, experience unknown moments, and make new connections between various contexts. It will combine rhythm and sound, blur the lines between linear and modular fields of tension, and all of this will be supported by an underlying architecture that allows the entire experience to flow. MOMEM will investigate any and all connections to electronic music that you can think of.
MOMEM has been supported by industry-leading and award-winning agencies since its inception. Design and realization were handled by Atelier Markgraph, and Cosalux was a key digital partner in bringing the concept to life. The MOMEM structure is futuristic enough for such a museum. The design incorporates a music theme, with round 12″ records, square sleeves, and metal mesh based on sound systems and acoustic panels from the studio; scaled-up reflections are inspired by bass reflections; slipmat patterns will be used; and a 360° sound wave panorama will be a key visual element of the entire museum. It has a modern design with sharp lines and high-tech visual displays. It’s a multi-sensory environment that brings audio-visual experiences together like never before.
The museum building and its spaces
The building’s exterior is wrapped in iconic soundwave graphics. Passers-by can manipulate sound waves by touching screens in special interactive areas with connecting screens. Visitors can use QR codes to select the story and DJ they want to hear. Local and international artists’ live performances can also be streamed exclusively on MOMEM’s facade, with passers-by able to connect via Bluetooth.
The museum is divided into different areas on the inside, including a Creator’s Stage with flexible furniture for different contexts, The Spatial Sampler with ‘infinite space’ grid-lighting that can be converted into a ‘hyperspace,’ and more. It features sound waves on the walls, a temporary stage for certain exhibitions, and a massive disco ball installation, as well as world-class sound installations and sonic architecture. The exhibitions are introduced by the Inner Circle, and there are additional spaces such as Sonic Welcome, Come Together, a Special Guest Area, a curated Museum Shop, and a Library with a wealth of musical history and knowledge. More interactive experiences, musical instruments, decks, software, wearable gear, art and graphic installations, AI, VR and AR, light shows, and so much more that brings electronic music to life in new ways.
MOMEM will honor and celebrate the significant cultural contribution that electronic music has made to the world over the last century. Do you have a sense of it?
