Who Is This Music For? Asian Diaspora, Counterculture, and Access

A4 brings together Asian diasporic artists from experimental/countercultural music scenes and community leaders to discuss the lack of access Asian diasporic communities have to countercultural arts. Artists in the diaspora, especially those who work within experimental and countercultural scenes, often challenge traditional boundaries of genre and aesthetics. In doing so, they often look inward towards their own cultural roots, as well as practices from various other cultures. It is only natural then that Asian countercultural artists would wish to perform for an audience that would deeply understand the cultural implications of their transgressive work.

Yet in organizing around aesthetic ideologies, countercultural music scenes and audiences, especially in New York City, exhibit a widening class and racial divide. The dominance of white curatorial spaces often distances Asian diasporic communities from artists and venues. Further, who gets to be an artist within countercultures must also be critically examined. While arts movements often idealize working-class politics, the level of professionalization of music writ large necessitates capital investment (in the form of schooling, PR, marketing, agents/managers) to even consider becoming a working musician in any genre, including countercultural ones.

Who is countercultural music for? Who should countercultural music be for? How can we organize in a way that changes who this music scene is being developed by and for? Join us for a panel discussion on these questions, the current state of the problem, imagining better futures, and more.

Panelists include Che Chen, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and curator for Four One One; Amirtha Kidambi, musician, bandleader of Elder Ones, educator, and activist; and Shahana Hanif, City Council Member for New York City’s 39th District.

The discussion will be co-moderated by Ravish Momin, drummer, producer, and educator; and Leo Chang, musician, scholar of experimental arts, and operations associate at A4. The evening will begin with a short performance by panelists Che Chen and Amirtha Kidambi, followed by an hour of structured panel discussion. There will be time for Q&A and mingling following the panel.

The event is hosted by the Clemente, a Puerto Rican and Latinx cultural space rooted in the Lower East Side. This event is open to all, particularly performers, community and arts organizers, and cultural workers of all backgrounds.

This event is FREE and open to the public. We suggest a $5 donation to go towards keeping A4’s programs free.

Agenda:
6:30-7:00 pm (30 min) – Performance
7:00-8:00 pm (60 min) – Panel
8:00-8:15 pm (15 min) – Q&A
8:15-8:30 pm (15 min) – Mingling

Recording: The panel discussion will be recorded and published on A4’s YouTube channel after the event.

Accessibility: Due to renovations happening at the Clemente, the space is temporarily not ADA accessible. There are five steps leading up to the door of the theater and three flights of stairs to the bathroom. We apologize for the inconvenience.

If you need CART Transcription, ASL interpretation, large print, or any other accommodations for this event, please email programs@aaartsalliance.org at least one week before this event.

To keep everyone safe and healthy, if you are not feeling well, please stay at home. We will provide masks and hand sanitizer.

Bios

About Che Chen
Che Chen is a multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, and concert organizer based in Queens, NY. An active participant in New York City’s experimental underground since the early 2000s, he has tread an idiosyncratic path from noise-song duo True Primes to studying guitar in Mauritania and improvising with veterans and upstarts from the global creative music community. In 2012, he and percussionist Rick Brown founded 75 Dollar Bill, a critically acclaimed group that synthesizes Asian and African modal concepts with the minimalist, No Wave and improvisational histories of their hometown. Organizing concerts has always been a parallel activity, stemming from the belief that music is social and must take place in community. He is currently the program coordinator at FourOneOne.

About Amirtha Kidambi
Spanning free jazz, punk, electronic, noise & South Asian music, Amirtha Kidambi’s sound challenges systems of power and the “decolonization and deconstruction of borders physical, mental and musical”. Kidambi is a vocalist, improviser and composer and the leader of the defiant protest jazz band Elder Ones. Based in Brooklyn, Kidambi collaborates with Luke Stewart, Darius Jones, Mary Halvorson, William Parker and other groundbreaking artists, receiving praise from Pitchfork, Wire Magazine and touring internationally at Rewire, SESC (Brazil) Unsound, Big Ears & more. She is also an activist and organizer working against oppression in all its forms. She’s currently the Working Artist Fellow at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn and guest curator for the 2025 edition of Le Guess Who? festival.

About Shahana Hanif
Council Member Shahana Hanif represents New York City’s 39th Council District, which includes parts of Kensington, Borough Park, Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, and the Columbia Waterfront. She is the first Bangladeshi and Muslim woman elected to the New York City Council and the first woman to represent the 39th District. Born and raised in the 39th District to Bangladeshi immigrant parents, Council Member Hanif has dedicated her career to advocating for working-class families and advancing a city built on care, equity, and safety. Her personal battle with Lupus, diagnosed at age 17, and her experiences with the challenging healthcare system and City services, inspired her commitment to public service.

About Ravish Momin
Indian-born drummer/electronic music producer Ravish Momin (a/k/a Sunken Cages), studied with US Jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille while he worked as a Civil Engineer in NYC in the late 1990s. He has worked as a sideman with a wide array of musicians ranging from saxophonist Kalaparush Maurice McIntyre (AACM) to pop-star Shakira. In the past, he led Tarana, a global-Jazz trio, on international and domestic stages. His current projects include ‘Turning Jewels Into Water’ (with Haitian electronic music pioneer Val Jeanty), a duo with dragonchild (of Debo Band) and Zelzeleh, a Digital Sufi Ensemble. He had been commissioned by Depeche Mode for a remix, and is the recipient of grants from New Music USA and Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.

About Leo Chang
Leo Chang is a Korean improviser, composer, performer, and scholar of experimental music. Born in Seoul, Leo lived as an expat in Singapore, Taipei, and Shanghai, until moving to the United States in 2011. His art is an act of homemaking inspired by various musical and ideological movements that have sought to question power dynamics and imagine egalitarian possibilities. His primary methods are free improvisation, written text, graphical notation, and electronic processing. In the past six years, he has been focused on building electronic performance setups derived from Korean folk practices and instruments. Leo holds a PhD in Electronic Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is also A4’s Operations Associate, where he manages grant reports and various administrative responsibilities.

About Clemente
The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center Inc. is a Puerto Rican/Latinx multi-arts cultural institution that has demonstrated a broad-minded cultural vision and inclusive philosophy rooted in NYC’s Lower East Side/Loisaida. While focused on the cultivation, presentation, and preservation of Puerto Rican and Latinx culture, they are equally committed to a multi-ethnic/international latitude, determined to operate in a polyphonic manner that provides affordable working space and venues to artists, small arts organizations, emergent and independent community producers that reflect the cultural diversity of the LES and the City.