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Oppressive Mesh is a show created by experimental music composer and performer François Minaux. It includes a live projection of paintings by Lao-American artist Chantala Kommanivanh, as well as drawings made by Lao refugees collected by Fred Branfman. Thai-British ceramicist Nat Quinn ceramics are used for props. Costume design by François Minaux.

The show gathers three different projects. Each were composed at different period. Devotion (2019), The Laos Song Cycle (2015-) and Oppressive Mesh (2022). It is scored for electronic drums, keyboard, theremin (or cello), 3 flutes, a modular synthesizer and field recordings.

Oppressive Mesh (2022) is a rendering of the psychological state I found myself into during COVID’s lock down. It was written at a time I looked inward and questioned the environment I was living into. Particularly, the power that the modern democratic state i live in uses to control its citizen’s mind and social activities. It is also a reaction against the liberal capitalist and economical system that abuses citizens’ rights for privacy, anonymity and digital privacy. In today’s social media era, the quest for privacy, creativity and real social activities has never been so hard especially while trying to live through the COVID pandemic.

Powder of Time and Surrender are two songs from the album Devotion (2019). Powder of Time talks about the mystery of the cycle of life. Surrender functions as a fable reminding us that grace can be found all around us if we let ourselves listen to our surrounding.

Pregnancy, Harvest and Sam Neua are the three first songs from the Laos Song Cycle (2015-) an ongoing project started around 2014. I have collected and adapted testimonies from people that have been involved in the Laos Secret War (1965-1973) and composed a song cycle based on them. My mission was to inform the public about this very unknown war, study the effects of a proxy war and its worldwide impact and finally try to understand how people heal and move on with their life after such a hardship.