A revival of "Expander of Progress: Continued Expedition" in Rostock
Finally back in Rostock - The Expander of Progress | Revival of the GDR off-ground band
Talk & concert on July 17, 2026 | 7 pm | Kunsthalle Rostock
Since 2019, a band from the GDR off-ground has been giving concerts again, which was considered one of the more significant formations of the last decade of the GDR: Der Expander des Fortschritts, founded in East Berlin in 1986, in its own name a band of "confused confusionists", in the external perception the hard-to-digest interpreter of the pop of the subculture East, clearly different from the "other bands" of those years, even if occasionally together on one stage. The Expander didn't play guitar pop, wave or punk; it took its cue from bands like the West German Cassiber or the North American Residents. The Expander of Progress looped Anton Bruckner, plundered bird song records, collaged film scores and news broadcasts. It played experimental chansons for bookworms and, in Mario Persch, had a lyricist on board who captured the end times in East Berlin in texts that were as expressive as they were melancholy. The Expander set Christoph Hein and Heinrich Heine, GDR health didactics and verses from the Edda, Friedrich Nietzsche and Heiner Müller to music.
In the summer of 1989, the Expander of Progress released its debut album: not on the state label Amiga, but in England on Chris Cutler's Recommended Records, an already legendary home for experimental music at the time. Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the expander went into the Amiga studio and produced his second album Ad Acta. He then said goodbye with a tape EP, i.e. with the medium on which he had also debuted, cassette perpetrators, as was customary in the eighties.
Thirty years later, two founding members revived the expander. The historical material was retrieved from the record shelves and archives and overwritten with contemporary material: Acting, Disappearing, Reappearing. Together with the next generation, they went into the rehearsal room and have been back on stage since 2019: more rhythmic, more intense in sound, more driving - Expander Fortgesetzte Expedition.
Currently, six tracks - released by Berlin music and film label playloud! - can be heard on the relevant streaming platforms. They join the LP release of "Urknall-Horde-Mensch", released in 2023 in the tapetopia series, underground tapes from the GDR and the release of an edition of works (a box with two vinyls and a 60-page catalog) with recordings from 1988 to 1990, which were released by the Leipzig major label in spring 2025.
7 pm Discussion"Sound between pain and euphoria" with Annegret Körber, certified music therapist/group analyst at Rostock University Medicine, Prof. Dr. Susanne Binas-Preisendörfer, The Expander of Progress, University of Oldenburg, Dr. Jörg-Uwe Neumann, Director of the Kunsthalle Rostock, and Wolfgang Schmiedt as a representative of the Rostock cultural and music scene. The discussion will be moderated by Harry Körber, LOHRO.
Loud cannot exist without quiet and vice versa - the dynamics and diversity of life play in between: filled with sounds, rhythms and melodies, gentle transitions, surprising twists or breaks. Music is powerful and - more than almost any other medium - filled with ideals, expectations, tensions and longings of all kinds. With loud, high-frequency or intense sounds, musicians go to the limits of pain or claim space for young people. Unlike eyes, you cannot close your ears, at best you can consciously turn away and withdraw into the rare moments of silence. But even the quiet can be disturbing, threatening and therefore powerful? Today, sounds are omnipresent and are often used to put people in a euphoric state. The first studies on non-substance-related addictions, such as addictive music listening, emerged in the early noughties.
In the panel discussion and with the audience, we will discuss the limits of music use and abuse, what the permanent availability of music does to us and what role AI-generated music will play in this.
20:30 Concert "Expander of Progress: Continued Expedition"
Founded in East Berlin in 1986, the band "Expander des Fortschritts" was considered one of the most significant formations of the last decade of the GDR. A revival of "Expander des Fortschritts: Fortgesetzte Expedition" in Rostock, which today consists of two founding members and a total of six musicians, will play experimental music in the Kunsthalle Rostock.
Secure your ticket now for an evening of reflection and experimental musical highlights.
The event is a cooperation between Kunsthalle Rostock, Rostock University Medical Center and Radio Lohro.
Current line-up
Voice/synthesizer: Safi
Soprano saxophone: Susanne Binas-Preisendörfer
Guitar/Effects: Sascha Wonerow
Keyboard:Eckehard Binas
Bass:Christoph Chudaska
Drums/Sample: Leo Binas
The expander of progress
17.07.2026
7 pm Talk | Admission from 6.30 pm
8.30 pm concert
Ticket price plus advance booking fee: €20, €8 reduced (Warnowpass holders, Kulturticket)
Tickets for the event are available at the Kunsthalle Rostock at the museum box office or atMV-Ticketavailable.
