Frieze DJ in Residence: Claudia Pagès Rabal

Whilst I regularly turn to classical music to get me out of the 4/4 time, there are songs I need to play to ground me in the raging present. For this selection, I’ve started compiling music that stands up against the billionaires who steal our beaches and our land – a sentiment echoed by Bad Bunny in this lyrics for ‘Lo que le pasó a Hawaii’ (What happened to Hawaii, 2025): ‘Quieren quitarme el río y también la playa, quieren el barrio mío, y que tus hijos se vayan,’ roughly translated as: ‘They want to take the river from me and also the beach; they want my neighbourhood, and your children to leave.’

From Puerto Rico to the Congo to Palestine, global fascism compels me to shout ‘F the World’ (2020) with Dorian Electra, while Lous and The Yakuza’s ‘Que Dieu m’éloigne du chemin de la vengeance’ (May God Keep Me from the Path of Vengeance, 2020) reminds me of the importance of resisting vengeance with grace.

In ‘The Words That Maketh Murder’ (2011), PJ Harvey asks, ‘What if I take my problem to the United Nations?’ We need a ‘New Trial’ (2021), as nara is neus suggests. I’m reminded that joy itself is a form of resistance – ‘Keeping Up’ (1985), like Arthur Russell – and that we must continue with Connie Beckley’s ‘A Fish Against the Flow,’ always driven by fierce love.

My relationship with music is deeply connected to language and storytelling. Music has also been one of the ways I’ve learned languages, which is why the lyrics of the songs I choose are so significant. They span Arabic, Catalan, English, French, Italian, Japanese and Spanish – languages of struggle, resistance and love.

Among the many artists who inspire me, I’m especially drawn to the work of writer and artist Rita Indiana, the legendary Franco Battiato, and my long-time collaborator nara is neus.

_{Main image: Claudia Pagès Rabal, Gerundi Circular (detail), 2021, video still. Courtesy: the artist and MACBA, Barcelona}