Moniek Darge was born in 1952 in Bruges, where she studied music theory and violin at the Music Conservatory until 1966. In 1973 she completed studies in painting at the Royal Academy for Fine Arts (K.A.S.K.) in Ghent. Besides art history and archaeology, she studied (moral) philosophy at the Rijksuniversiteit in Ghent. In the arts, Moniek Darge is mainly active as a composer, violinist and performer. “Soundscapes” and live-art performances are among her specialities. She combines both visual and musical aspects in these performances. Since 1970, Darge and Godfried Willem Raes have together formed the internationally renowned Logos Duo. As co-administrator of the Logos Foundation, she has helped to bring the Logos Duo not only to concert halls in Europe but also in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Asia. Since 1970, she has also focused on interactional violin improvisations. Together with Karin De Feyt (flute), Nicole Ledegen (voice), Ann Vancoillie (violin) and Francesca Verbauwhede (violin), she set up Logos Vrouwen in 1994 to explore this manner of performance. This ensemble improvises using a combination of voices, violin, Mali fiddle, flute and body expression. Darge is also a member of the Logos Ensemble that performed Raes’s music-theatre production Mach 96 as well as Rooie Niki, a street opera in which she played the lead role in 1998. She also builds light and sound sculptures, installations and musical instruments. Over many years she has produced a collection of alternative music boxes. For Darge, these boxes tell a poetic, audio-visual story with such ingredients as soft sounds, subtle light reflections and a liberating sense of humour. She sets out to find the most suitable sounds for the (as yet) empty boxes. Besides many prizes and distinctions, she was named Cultural Ambassador of Flanders as a member of the Logos Duo in 1997.

From 1970 to 1980, Darge was a co-organiser of ten mixed-media festivals. For these events she also took the initiative in setting up “Sonomobiel” exhibits in, among other places, the K.A.S.K. and the Museum for Contemporary Art in Ghent. In 1992 she organised the Japanese Performance Festival in Ghent and since 1993 she has organised an annual International Women’s Festival, which aims to bring young Flemish composers, musicians and performance artists into contact with their female counterparts from other countries. Moniek Darge also regularly produces poetry, compositions and drawings, as well as journalistic and literary essays. In addition she is the editor of the Logos-Blad. Besides her activities as an organiser, Darge at present teaches ethnic music, art history and project seminars, especially on the visual arts and music, at the K.A.S.K. and the Royal Conservatory in Ghent (now merged to become the Hogeschool Gent). She has lectured as a guest teacher in North and South America, Australia and New Zealand.

Selective bibliography
- M. DELAERE, Experimentele muziek, in Nieuwe Muziek in Vlaanderen, uitg. dr. M. DELAERE, Y. KNOCKAERT en H. SABBE, Brugge, 1998, p. 86-92

©2002 Cathérine Raes, for Flanders Music Centre and MATRIX

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