Atta-Anatta อัตตา-อนัตตา

Atta-Anatta อัตตา-อนัตตา is Kengchakaj first solo performance for piano, traditional Thai instruments, live electronics, and Jitr-จิตร, a computer-generated, imaginary electronic Thai ensemble, exploring the juxtaposition among various Thai tuning systems and western tuning systems, improvisation and algorithmic generated music, electronics, and acoustic instruments. Atta-Anatta will also collaborate with Nitcha Tothong for the visual performance.

Atta-Anatta aims to bring the audience’s attention to the forces that altered indigenous identity and practices, contributing to the root of Thailand’s contemporary political crisis, such as the impact of colonialism that influenced the fabrication of modern Thai national identity, disconnecting Thai identity from Southeast Asia’s shared history. I believe that it is a crucial time to reconcile those connections; to build a new language and skill set to practice decolonial aesthetics, as Sharmi Basu stated in her thesis paper Decolonizing Sound, to take agency within our own practice and redefine the ways in which we are perceived; to be able to create something unique for expression outside the systems of oppression we live in.

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This event is made possible by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and The New York City Artist Corps.

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Artwork design by Nitcha Tothong