KARST x SOAK present

SOAK and KARST are proud to present an evening of live performance to celebrate the exhibition ‘Jalsaghar’ by Debjani Banerjee, which translates from Bengali as 'The Music Room'. This event draws inspiration from the exhibition themes to create a collaborative space for cultural expression across multiple art forms, featuring Bharatanatyam dance, historic sound archives, spoken word and music by artists Sadhna Lakshmi Ventakesh, Paul Purgas, Arun Sood and Ysella Sims.

Arun Sood and Hank Tree
Ambient Guitars / Spoken Word / Field Recordings / Electronics

Arun Sood and Hank Tree perform a series of soundscapes from their forthcoming collaborative album Peripheral Lament, which  encompasses ambient, alt-folk, and Indian Classical influences, and features fragmentary allusions to Vedic texts, the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore, as well as field recordings and archival samples set to off-kilter classical guitars and distortion-heavy instrumentals. During lockdown of 2020, Sood found solace in his rediscovery of Rabindranath Tagore’s writings and Satyajit Ray’s 1961 documentary on the Bengali poet and artist. A series of soundscapes and spoken word pieces gradually emerged which navigate themes of cultural migration, spiritual inheritance, diaspora, and the intersections between national, global, and individual identities. This performance will include fragmentary and looped samples from Ray’ documentary, spoken word, ambient guitarscapes and electronics. Taking their cue from Debjani Banerjee’s exhibition Jalsaghar, or ‘music room’, which also takes its inspiration from a Satyajit Ray film, the performance invites attendees to embrace an ‘in-between’ dream space where sound, memory, text, voice, and materiality can merge and transform within the gallery setting.

Arun Sood is a Scottish-Indian writer, musician, academic, and intermedia artist working across multiple forms. His critical and creative practice ranges from video installations, visual poetry, and collage to multi-channel sound works. Broadly, his outputs reflect on themes of diaspora, heritage, ancestry, language, and memory. Arun has also penned three books including an academic study on the Scottish song collector Robert Burns and a novel, New Skin For The Old Ceremony: A Kirtan, which won the 2024 Kavya Prize for fiction. His non-fiction artbook Searching Erskine was accompanied by a solo record of the same name which featured as a Guardian album of the month in 2022.

Hank Tree is a Glasgow based project led by Fergus MacDonald (ex- State Broadcasters), also comprising Roy Shearer (Ultras, Inspector Tapehead) and Bart Owl (Eagleowl, Broken Chanter). They have received airplay on BBC Radio 6 and BBC Scotland, and have supported artists including King Creosote, Alasdair Roberts and Gwenifer Raymond. For this performance MacDonald will be playing solo under the Hank Tree moniker with Arun Sood.

Paul Purgas

At SOAK, Paul will present a collection of material from the archives of the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, documenting the history of India's first electronic music studio founded in 1969. A number of Purgas’ institutional exhibitions have been rooted in research he undertook at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad. The city was well-known as a centre for developing ideas that came from modernism in the fields of design and technology during the 1950s and 1960s. Purgas wanted to research the history of an electronic music studio set up at NID by the New York composer and pianist David Tudor. Purgas discovered that a Moog synthesiser had made its way to the studio via connections forged by Gita Sarabhai, who had studied with John Cage and was from a prominent local family. In the archives he found a set of reel-to-reel tapes made by a series of unknown composers made using the Moog between 1969 to 1973 - India’s lost electronic music scene.

Paul Purgas is an artist and musician working with sound, performance and installation. Originally trained as an architect he has presented institutional exhibitions and projects with Southwark Park Galleries, Tramway, Serpentine Galleries, Tate, Kettle's Yard and Spike Island. His written output includes essays for the ‘Unsound:Undead’ collection published by Urbanomic at MIT Press and contributions to the critical journal Audimat.

Sadhna Lakshmi Venkatesh

At SOAK, Sadhna will perform Oath of Draupathi, a heartfelt tribute to the strength and resilience of one of the Mahabharata’s most powerful female figures. Through expressive storytelling, evocative music, and dynamic choreography, this performance seeks to bring Draupadi’s journey to life—her courage in the face of injustice and her unwavering spirit. Oath of Draupathi is not just a dance piece but a reflection on resilience, dignity, and the triumph of good over evil. Sadhna hopes this production resonates with audiences and serves as a reminder of the timeless relevance of these stories in today’s world.

Sadhna Lakshmi Venkatesh is a dedicated Bharatanatyam dancer, deeply rooted in the traditions of this ancient art form. Born and raised in Dubai, she hails from Chennai, a city known for its rich cultural heritage. She began her journey in Bharatanatyam at the age of three under the guidance of her guru and mother, Mrs. Lakshmi Venkatesh, a respected dancer and teacher. Over the years, she has performed various solo thematic productions such as Sri and Rama Namame Tharaka Mantram and has had the opportunity to perform across India, Dubai, and the UK as part of esteemed dance troupes.

Ysella Sims

Family stories are like sand running through our fingers, the more hands it runs through the harder it becomes to hold. Focusing on our relationship to people and place, Ysella invites us to join her as she tries to catch hold of the sand and cast a shape, asking what it means to belong as she draws together a story of migration spanning centuries, countries and continents.

Ysella is a writer, poet and performer. Her writing explores belonging and identity, focusing on our connection to each other and the natural world. She enjoys using different mediums to find new ways to engage with subjects and explore liminal spaces. She has had work published in the Guardian, Caught by the River, Spelt Magazine, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Brittle Star, Lamb, and, the Blue Nib where she was a contributing editor. She writes about living, rural and otherwise, and reconnecting with heritage at ysella.substack.com.