Jay Afrisando and meLê Yamomo: "Excuse us! May we enter the space?"

21.06.2025 / 16:00 – 17:30
With Jay Afrisando

What does it mean to listen ethically? How do Southeast Asian epistemologies of care, access, and presence challenge dominant frameworks of sound and aesthetics rooted in Western philosophical traditions? 

In this public conversation, artists and scholars Jay Afrisando (music and sound fellow 2024-25) and meLê yamomo engage in a dialogue on how their artistic practices—rooted in Southeast Asian aesthetics, knowledge systems, disability justice, and aural diversity—offer alternative configurations of listening, labor, and agency. Moving beyond Eurocentric ideals of detached ethics and disembodied sound, they ask: What kinds of ethics emerge from lived, tacit practices of care and relationality? How can the act of listening itself be reimagined as a form of labor and solidarity? 

Drawing on concepts such as kula nuwun (a Javanese gesture of entering space with permission), seniman (Indonesian notion of the artist) and sound as embodied labor, the conversation invites the audience to consider how ethical systems can be heard, felt, and practiced—rather than merely theorized. It will map connections between sound, access, and social aesthetics from a Southeast Asian perspective. 

Accessibility
Venue
The event will take place on the second floor of the daadgalerie. Follow the link for full accessibility info of the venue.

Times and admission:
We will open the doors at 4pm. The event will start around 4.15pm.
If required, we can offer you earlier admission from 3:45 pm so that you can familiarize yourself with the surroundings and choose your seat. Please register for this at borsche.berlin@daad.de.

Admission is free.
Late admission after the start of the event is possible. The duration of the event is approx. 90 minutes. The conversation will take about 45-60 min, followed by questions from the audience (about 15-25 min).
If you feel any Covid-like symptoms, please consider to stay home. We are aiming at recording the session.

Seating & sensory stimuli:
There will be various forms of seatings: chairs with backrests and benches without backrests, some cushions for the chairs as well as bean bags.

The event tends to have a moderate sound volume. The event room is medium light (afternoon daylight plus colorful ambient light settings and white stage light). The venue is air conditioned, but once filled with a lot of people it will still get warm. The event is not immersive. The event takes place in a spacious room.

Event type:
The event is planned as a conversation and discussion. This means that the afternoon will have a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. You are free to move around, leave and come back whenever you like. The event is planned to be sensory-friendly. This means that care is taken to reduce strong sensory stimuli to create a place that is as pleasant as possible for everyone. Loud noises and intense lighting effects are avoided.
Non-alcoholic drinks will be served free of charge.

Language:
The event will be held in English.

Contact persons:
If you have any further questions about accessibility, please email or call Dahlia Borsche: borsche.berlin@daad.de / 030-20220828.
If you have any questions or require assistance on site, please contact the admission staff.

We look forward to welcoming you!

Photo: meLê yamomo, credit: Zé de Paiva / Jay Afrisando, credit: Eunice Maurice/Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD