The Nusasonic initiative kicked off 2–13 October 2018 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Assembling 43 artists from Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, it began as a multi-day lab where new artist pairings, a hacklab, and a sonic wilderness group play together and create new musical works, ideas, and possibilities. The event culminated in a festival showcase, sharing the results of the lab and featuring performances by other invited artists within a programme of concerts, club nights, guerrilla outdoor events, and daytime programme of talks, panels, and workshops.

Nusasonic takes its title from “Nusantara,” an ancient Javanese term which is nowadays used to address the multiple connections between Southeast Asian countries. Nusasonic will incorporate a mix of formats such as artistic labs, commissioned works, concerts, installations, festivals, lectures, publications and more to look at how contemporary sound practices enable connections and dialogues within the Southeast Asian region and with Europe, all while paying critical attention to local contexts and ongoing global asymmetries. In addition to presenting outstanding artistic voices to the public, the initiative will aim to support artists in their practice, to strengthen local networks, to encourage cross- border and inter-cultural cooperation, and to contribute to broadening the understanding of contemporary sound practices.

Adopting a multi-perspective approach, the project is collaboratively created by Yes No Klub (Yogyakarta), WSK Festival of the Recently Possible (Manila), Playfreely/BlackKaji (Singapore), and CTM Festival for Adventurous Music & Art (Berlin). Following the kick-off in Yogyakarta, Nusasonic will take different shapes and formats and visit Manila, Singapore, and other locations in Southeast Asian over the coming years. The initiative will also connect to Berlin and to some extent the globe.

Nusasonic is an initiative of the Goethe-Institutes in Southeast Asia.