Music culture is not set up to create an environment where women or NB folk can thrive uninterrupted, rooted instead in broader cultural systems that are fractured and designed to benefit only some. However, we must create what does not exist or die waiting for it. As we have clarified before, FEMWAV has been formulated to create resources for and bring awareness to work done by women and non-binary musicians and music professionals, to create a space that focuses on their labour and ideas, help whatever way we can to make sure it does not remain unseen.
#FEMWAVCALLING is our invitation to women and NB musicians from India, and not just those working within the confines of electronic music but elsewhere, too, to share their work with us. To discard, for a solid moment, the likely ambivalence they may experience in the face of their own skill and strength and reach out. Muting our drives hacks away at our self-image and identity, and perhaps we all need a reminder that the worth of the work we put in is likely more than we imagine it to be due to overidentification with insecurities imposed on us.
FEMWAV aims to create the first ever archive of Indian women and NB musicians in 2020 to present as a real, live resource in response to claims that cite women and non-binary people’s lack of interest in music as an excuse for their absence from the scene and the general derogation of women and non-binary artists. We will be cataloguing all genres of music, sound art, spoken word, and other audio experiments.
We are interested in narratives of both musicians and music professionals, their experiences, challenges, and advice. We hope to hear from those with firsthand experience to create an opening into the scene for those that have no access to it. Information is the tool we can use to challenge establishments and transcend limitations.
Together, we can reflect on our participation and contribution in order to devise a coherent roadmap for emerging women and NB musical artists, and to provoke interest in future ones. Most of all, these narratives are critical in order to not represent them in an inaccurate, tokenistic fashion. So, we turn to you to nominate a friend, even a foe, and most importantly yourself. Please email the following curator address to commence a dialogue: femwav@gmail.com
Written by Uvika Wahi
Written by Uvika Wahi
