«In April, Barcelona was alive with spring warmth and blooming flowers, giving the city a vibrant atmosphere. After a gig at Essaim in Paris, I joined a panel at Mostra25, focusing on the Japanese scene and its connections with Barcelona and Europe. Discussing with ENA, Lynne, OCCA, and Kentaro Terajima, along with an engaged audience, highlighted Mostra’s commitment to community. At Fabra i Coats Creative Factory, I enjoyed avant-garde performances combining immersive sound and minimal visuals.
My own set at Vall d’Hebron Olympic Pavilion blended experimental elements with avant-garde techno, and the audience’s response made it unforgettable. Surrounded by the organizers’ hospitality and the crowd’s energy, Mostra25 was a special experience that deepened my love for Spain, just as walking the Camino de Santiago had years ago.» —OCCA
For years now—perhaps too many—the dichotomy within the electronic festival landscape has been clear: you can either attend a festival that dares to open up new sonic horizons, or you can surrender yourself to the pull of massive events that endlessly repeat the same functional formula with only the slightest variations.
Firmly part of the first camp—smaller in number but infinitely more rewarding—Barcelona’s Mostra festival has, edition after edition, sought to expand what electronic music can mean in its most adventurous, artistic form, unafraid of experimentation or creative risk.
The Japanese artist OCCA embodies that spirit with his solid trajectory, and his set at Mostra 2025 was perhaps the best example of how an electronic journey can be as original as it is absorbing, as nuanced and layered as it is genre-defying. Tracks unfolded with a sensitivity that challenged the very logic of convention.
OCCA arrived at Mostra25 with more than a decade of experience curating ARCHIV at Precious Hall in Sapporo, the legendary club in Hokkaido. Known for his singular vision, he has been invited to key platforms such as DJ Nobu’s Future Terror, Mindgames’ The Labyrinth/Balance, Spekki Webu’s Mirror Zone 5 Years Tour across Europe, System Revival, and the renowned Bassiani in Georgia. An artist whose international resonance keeps expanding, he was visiting Spain for the very first time.
His set at the Vall d’Hebron Olympic Pavilion became one of those standout moments of the Mostra weekend—not our words, but those of much of the crowd who witnessed it on that Saturday night. His presence carried even more weight given that Japan was the guest country for this edition—yet another of Mostra’s signature moves, one of the reasons the Catalan festival so often feels like much more than a festival. OCCA also took part in the Mostra’m discussion sessions held in the days leading up to the event, sharing a roundtable with Lynne, ENA, and Kentaro Terajima—all of whom also performed at Mostra—offering Barcelona audiences a rare window into Japan’s contemporary scene.
OCCA’s performance was, in essence, a perfect snapshot of what defines Mostra: a precise and uncompromising curatorial vision, uninterested in simply serving up recognizable names, but instead betting on the sounds of tomorrow—on experiences designed to surprise, move, and transform. —Mostra Festival
Mostra will celebrate its fifth edition from March 12–15, 2026. If something like a Pilgrim’s Credential existed in the world of electronic music, its stamp would be unavoidable: a vital waypoint along the journey, a borderless map drawn with a shared purpose—to imagine, to feel, and to dance.