Sharmi Basu: Beast Nest

CCRMA presents a livestreamed performance by Sharmi Basu, an Oakland-born and -based disabled South Asian woman of color creating experimental music as a means of decolonizing musical language. They attempt to catalyze a political, yet ethereal, aesthetic by combining their anti-colonial and anti-imperialist politics with a commitment to spirituality within the arts. Beast Nest, Sharmi's primary performing project, utilizes multi-dimensional soundscapes to transmute trauma and suffering into moments of deep presence. Their multimedia work centers on familial healing, transformative justice, accountability, and the investigation of interpersonal harm.

They are an M.F.A. graduate from the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College in Electronic Music and Recording Media and have worked with Fred Frith, Roscoe Mitchell, John Bischoff, Pauline Oliveros, Chris Brown, Maggi Payne, and more. Their workshops on “Decolonizing Sound” have been featured at the International Society for Improvised Music and the Empowering Women of Color Conference, reaching international audiences. They perform about 100 times a year internationally. They are also Executive Director for Ratskin Records, a decolonial record label in Oakland, CA.