Sharmi Basu (they/them) is a multimedia performance artist, curator, composer, and arts organizer born and based in the unceded territories of Chochenyo Ohlone peoples, also known as Oakland, CA. They create sound and performance pieces that address vulnerability, accountability, and experiences of diaspora by creating new narratives for decolonial thinking toward individual and collective liberation. Their primary performance project, Beast Nest, shows us that the abstract and immaterial experiences of trauma can be transformed through the process of creation in art and sound. They believe that transcending the emotional landscape through active presence is the key to accessing multidimensionality and work with these ideas in their Sound and Liberation workshops, their curatorial projects, and their BIPOC improvisation group, the Mara Performance Collective.
They received their MFA from Mills College and host a number of workshops internationally that center on sound healing, decolonization, and conflict & accountability, as well as technical skill-shares. They have performed for SFMOMA, YBCA, San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, Cluster Festival, Ableton Loop, the International Symposium of Improvised Music, Soundwave SF, Human Resources LA, and many other spaces throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. They have exhibited work at Coaxial, Southern Exposure, SOMArts, Counterpulse, Gray Area, and the Smithsonian. They are currently a research resident at the Kitchen in NY and an Emerging Arts Fellow in San Francisco. Their work on Decolonizing Sound has been taught at universities internationally at institutions such as Brown University in the US and Goldsmiths College in the UK. They are a certified mediator focused on interpersonal healing within Queer and Trans BIPOC communities, and are on the board of a number of organizations including Safer DIY Spaces, Bay Area Girls Rock Camp, Soundwave SF, and California FM. They co-founded the first-ever Bay Area Black and Brown Punk Festival, the Multiverse is Illuminated, and are currently an arts administrator at Southern Exposure in San Francisco. They are the Executive Director of Ratskin Records, an archival imprint championing decolonial artists in the Bay Area. The majority of their organizational work is dedicated to providing resources, mutual aid, and moments of joy to queer and Trans BIPOC.
Their ultimate goal through their work is to cultivate a sense of empowerment for themself and their community.
Recent work
SELF-INVESTIGATIONS #0
Self-Investigations #0 is an in-progress work culminating during an art exchange sponsored by Zero1 and Ars Electronica. You can find on the program more information here.
Exploring the duality of truth, where we say one thing but respond with another, this project is an exploration of how varying individuals respond to their own relationship with conflict, harm, accountability, and repair. Self-Investigations #0 is a continuation of a previous project that was a workbook and series of interviews titled "am i doing better?" This iteration has a microcontroller within a stuffed bear which is used as a "stress ball." The user is seated while watching a video asking 50 questions about conflict, hurt, and liberation. The user has the opportunity to squeeze the bear, which changes the colors of an LED strip placed in a nearby potted plant. The effect is meant to be subtle but noticeable, and the user is encouraged to focus on the questions, rather than the object and its reaction. Self-Investigations #0 is meant to highlight the difference in our intellectual versus somatic responses, and subsequently, our need for comfort in difficult situations.
The photos document the scope of the questions, the bear controller and LED lights, and a user watching the video and interacting with the bear.
QUESTIONS (CAPTIONED)
FULL SHOWCASE
SOUNDWAVE: NEXT & TRANSLOCALITY
Throughout 2020 and 2021 I have had the honor to be the Programming Manager and one of the chief Curators of Soundwave NEXT and Soundwave Translocality. Soundwave NEXT live performances will be premiering in September 2021 and February 2022. Translocality is a series of soundwalks we are hosting through the Echoes Application. Below is a picture of brontë velez, a Black nonbinary dancer creating beautiful shapes with their hands and holding a horn. The background is dark and they are encapsulated in a soft purple light. Click here for tickets and more information.
You will be able to find more information about our soundwalks by downloading the Echoes application on your android or apple device!
Mixed Reality Festival at Holosuites
Ratskin Records is a decade old record label championing Decolonial Artists. As of 2019, I am serving as Executive Director and one of the curators (along with Wizard Apprentice and Michael Daddona) for a new access-centered venue. We are so excited to launch this and are in the testing stages of our event. Hit us up if you are interested in hosting an event in our space!
New Access-Centered Space by Ratskin Records
LIVE @ BENI’S HOUSE
Beast Nest performs in a bright green dress with their friends Bulbasaur, Kirby, and Beni in their room during the pandemic.
am i doing better? is an exploration of conflict, accountability, harm, and healing from a de-colonial lens. This project is an ongoing series of interviews with artists and musicians and their discoveries through their relationships with others and themselves.
Above pictures are of Sharmi Basu, a south asian non binary artists, moving to FEEDBACK AURA PHOTOS, an installation where users can create designs based on their movement. The application is now set up to take automatic photos based on speech and/or certain movements. There are also many pictures of “am i doing better” a 3 channel video installation on tubed Television sets with interviews of various queer BIPOC, and a colorful sign that says Invest. The 3 channel installation is asking the viewers to consider and reflect how they deal with conflict and how to communicate towards healing and trusting accountability.
Pupa
Titania Kumeh and Sharmi Basu
For Unearthed Art Show at CounterPulse SF on Feb 2nd, 2019
"Pupa" is a performance of diasporic journies. It is the performance of our mothers' migration and birthing stories. WIthin this meditation, artists Sharmi Basu and Titania Kumeh are going back in time in an effort to heal cellular trauma embedded in their bodies and in the bodies of their matriarchs.
Sharmi Basu is a south asian non binary artist and Titania Kumeh is a queer Black femme. Both are performing a ritual bath covered in Gold immitating a rebirthing process to heal from the trauma of being born in this world. Friendship is what supports our rebirthing process.
freelancer’s jest
FREELANCER’S JEST
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION was curated by Zachary James Watkins Performed by the Living Earth Show Composers: Morgan Brown, Ava Mendoza, Raven Chacon, Sharmi Basu, Zachary James Watkins At Pro Arts in Oakland, March 2018. Freelancer’s Jest is a 3 part series attempting to investigate accountability and trauma with those in power, two Cis White Men. It is a vulnerable and chaotic piece with the first part being a straight interview, the second part being an experiment with the sound of light and helium balloons, and the third being a manifesto on how accountability functions within underground communities.
LIVE @ ELI’S MILE HIGH CLUB
TRIGGERS EXCERPT (VIDEO)
other kinds of dreams
Dancers: Dezi Soley as The Healer And Leland Bronson as the Ancient Being with Alexander Brown as the young warrior.
Musician: Sharmi Basu
Storyteller/ Truth sayer: Amber Mczeal
The Moon//death
Beast Nest; Songs for Puppies; The Moon //Death Full Spectrum Records, March 2015 http://fullspectrumrecords.com/catalog/songs-for-puppies. Music Video by John Brumley: http://johnbrumley.info