Healing and Art in Exile: Tibetan Music Performance and Discussion by Techung (Virtual)
With the rise of ethnonationalist conflict and ethnocentrism in South Asia, artistic traditions are often mobilized by power-bearing institutions to promote insularity or supremacy. These centuries-old art forms transformed across time and space, however, can conversely and intentionally be used to promote solidarity and healing. In this event, New York-based Tibetan folk musician Techung will share a selection of Tibetan folk songs learned in India’s Tibetan refugee community. He will invite the audience in discussion to consider the significance of tradition outside of the homeland/in exile, music as healing, and the act of establishing a creative community in a new home.
About the Artist
Techung is a prominent Tibetan singer/songwriter living in exile in New York. He is best known for his performances of traditional Tibetan music, dance as well as opera. His dedication and love for performing arts and years of training has come to fruition with his becoming a master musician and composer in his own right. He is a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Folk and Traditional Arts and was recently nominated for the National Heritage Award by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Whether performing traditional or contemporary songs, Techung's dual purpose has always been to revive Tibetan music in the Tibetan community and to promote the rich performing tradition of his homeland to a wider audience around the world. Techung has collaborated with world-renowned musicians such as Phillip Glass and blues master Keb Mo. Along with musicians such as Patti Smith, Iggy Pop and others, Techung has performed at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York City.
About the Series
Subcontinent on the Hudson: South Asian Migrations and Musics in New York
South Asian immigration to New York has been documented since the 1800’s predating the independent countries that contemporary diasporas identify with. While grappling with international news, U.S. immigration policy, and the shared struggles of gentrification, wealth inequality, and xenophobia, it is not uncommon to see our communities struggling with their adherence to the twinned allures of capitalism and white supremacy, propagating casteism, classism, and ethnonationalism across continents.
It is important now more than ever to also recognize where South Asian-Americans across generations have built interlinked and unique communities through their languages, food, and art. Rooted in folk, classical, and fusion traditions, music is a site of ongoing self-expression, negotiation, innovation, and community-building.
In the face of global capitalism and ethnonationalism fracturing the South Asian-American diaspora, Brooklyn Raga Massive in partnership with DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving) has curated “Subcontinent on the Hudson: South Asian Migrations and Musics in New York.” In four events, we pay homage to the variety of South Asian creative experiences in New York by foregrounding the diversity of traditions and inspirations informing our art. Above all, this series seeks to heal, unite, and contribute to the continued mobilization of diasporic communities that make their home here: we call on our audiences to be inspired – as we are – by the history, diversity, and imaginations of South Asian American communities in our home.