Chicagoland peeps, I could use some help finding South Asian singers, musicians, comedians, maybe even dancers? I used to have lots of names at my fingertips, but what with COVID and all the library and school board service, I haven’t been out in the arts scene nearly as much as I used to be, and I just don’t know who’s out there now.
I could just do a normal book launch with just me, but that doesn’t sound nearly as much fun as doing more of a South Asian showcase, celebrating some of our Chicago-based talent.
This would be for my book launch event for Tornado and Perennial, Saturday October 21st, 3-5 p.m., at the South Asia Institute, 1925 S. Michigan Ave. It’s an unpaid gig, but I’ll be cooking delicious snacks, am planning to have photography and video there for the event, and will be very happy to get artists material they can potentially use for head shots, websites, reels, etc. We’ll also have a table set up for selling, so if they have books, CDs, other merch, flyers, etc., I’d be very happy to have them sell things there, collect names for your mailing list, etc.
I think Angeli Primlani and Devi Bhaduri have already agreed to participate — I’d love to have more writers, but also more performing artists of other kinds. The South Asia Institute is a great space for this, so if you haven’t been there yet, it’s also an opportunity to check it out!
If interested, please comment below, or drop me an e-mail at mohanraj@mamohanraj.com, with the subject line SOUTH ASIAN SHOWCASE. And if you know someone who might be interested, tag them in or send them the info!