Thomas Burkhalter on Research trip to Bangladesh and India

Johnny Kalsi London, 2019. Photo credit: Thomas Burkhalter

Thomas Burkhalter is an anthropologist/ethnomusicologist, AV-artist, and writer from Bern, Switzerland. He is the founder and director of Norient, the Norient Space, and the founder and strategic director of the Norient Festival. He co-directed documentary films (e.g. “Contradict”, Berner Filmpreis 2020 & Al-Jazeera Witness) and AV/theatre/dance performances. Thomas is also author and co-editor of several books, teaches regularly at universities, and runs workshops for arts institutions. His experimental radio feature, “Gqom Edits – A Durban Visit”, was nominated for Prix Europa in 2017. Currently, he is working on his new music project Melodies In My Head, and on the experimental podcast series’ Timezones and South Asian Sound Stories.

Thomas Burkhalter will travel to Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka to work on his new podcast series “South Asian Sound Stories.” He plans to meet and interview musicians from different scenes and of different generations, asking: “What does living and working in culture and the arts involve in different countries, cities, and contexts today?” The results are going to be published on Norient and other platforms.

“South Asian Sound Stories” is a long-term project that started with interviews with artists of South Asian origin in the UK.

Follow @thomasburkhalter and @norientsounds on Instagram.