Kengchakaj - piano, electronics, DIY gongs
Melissa Almaguer - taps
MAYSUN - percussion, electronics
Nitcha Fame Tothong - visual
THE UNFORGETTING
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I am developing a set of new music and concepts for an ongoing, large-scale immersive live performance project that is still in development. This set of new ideas is inspired by Southeast Asian gong ensembles, featuring piano, percussion, and electronics improvisation, live spatial sound, and homemade DIY gongs.
"Unforgetting" is a concept introduced by Thongchai Winichakul, a survivor of the October 6, 1976, Thammasart University massacre, to describe the liminal space between remembering and forgetting—a state of suspended memory that characterizes the enduring silence surrounding this tragic event. This silence is not mere forgetfulness; rather, it represents the profound inability to either fully remember or completely forget, to articulate traumatic memories in ways that are comprehensible and meaningful, or to move beyond the past entirely.
This set of music confronts the systematic silencing of activists and radical thinkers across Southeast Asia, with particular focus on Thailand, while drawing urgent parallels to the resurgence of fascism worldwide. Through this music, I hope to unfold this condition of "unforgetting"—using sound to hold space for difficult truths as we move together toward healing and justice.
Kengchakaj is a sound practitioner and an improviser. He makes sound rooted in his lineage so that repair, reconciliation, and transformation can happen. His medium of expression spans electroacoustic piano, Southeast Asian tuned analog synthesizer, spatial audio, instrument making, and live coding–utilizing technologies to produce multisensory live performance. He is a 2025-2028 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow and a 2024-2025 Lincoln Center Collider Fellow.
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