Sound and Liberation with Sharmi Basu
Thursday, February 13, 2020 // 7:30pm–9:30pm
Sound is often an expression of our psycho-somatic makeup. We are constantly making sounds, whether or not we are consciously doing so. Our bodies act as active transducers, transforming electric energy into physical energy and vice versa.
This workshop tests the theory that we can find ways to heal and understand ourselves by using sound as an active processor of our individual and collective struggle and experiences. As sound, art, music, and creativity are the processes of turning the context of our lives, skills and experiences into something new and external to our individual selves, this process of making art and sound is ideal for healing and restoring presence. Sound, as both a material and immaterial object, is in a unique position to help us move through the most difficult experiences. In this workshop, we learn about the basics of sound and use a number of improvisational scores and exercises as a mode of self-investigation.
This event prioritizes femme-identified womxn and non-binary folx, but is open to all who are not cis men. We ask that our cis male allies and friends respectfully do not attend, as we recognize that electronic music is overwhelmingly dominated by cis men.
Sharmi Basu (she/they) is a multi-media performance artist, curator, and composer. She creates work that addresses vulnerability, accountability, and experiences of millennial diaspora through creating narratives of decolonial thinking toward individual and collective liberation. She attempts to catalyze a political, yet ethereal aesthetic by combining her anti-colonial and anti-imperialist politics with a commitment to spirituality within the arts. Beast Nest, Sharmi’s primary performing project, utilizes an unwavering depression and restrained horror to channel left-eyed spirits. She is an MFA graduate from the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College in Electronic Music and Recording Media and has worked with Fred Frith, Roscoe Mitchell, John Bischoff, Pauline Oliveros, Chris Brown, Maggi Payne, and more. Her performances and sound pieces show us that the abstract and immaterial experiences of trauma and pain can be liberated through our abstract creations in art and sound. She believes that transcending the emotional landscape is the key to accessing multidimensionality, and works with these ideas in her Decolonizing Sound workshops and her improvisation group, the Mara Performance Collective. She hosts a number of workshops that center on sound healing and self-accountability, as well as technical skill-shares world-wide. She is also a certified mediator focused on interpersonal healing within Queer and Trans BIPOC communities. Her ultimate goal through her work is to cultivate a sense of vulnerability and empowerment for herself and her community.