South by Southwest (SXSW) is set to host its first Asian-American music showcase.
NBC news reports that a non-profit arts organization working with the festival has confirmed the news. Kollaboration’s global executive director, Christine Minji Chang, told NBC News that the programme will consist of a speaker panel and a music showcase.
The SXSW Asian-American showcase will feature acts including Run River North and Megan Lee, who is currently starring on Nickelodeon’s Make It Pop.
The speaker round table, ‘Asian Americans Break the Silence and Stereotypes’ is scheduled for 12 March. Speakers include Chang, Angry Asian Man blogger Phil Yu, actor Dante Basco, and comedian Jenny Yang. The panel based will be based on a music industry panel attended by Chang. Chang had asked the executives if an Asian-American artist had ever been signed by them.
“[An executive] basically answered me with, ‘I don’t know how we could move forward with them. I don’t know how I can market them,'” Chang said. “I’ve heard this directly from the artists that Kollaboration has worked with over the years. It’s not malicious. It’s just something they’ve been told time and time again.”
According to Chang, the concert is “South by Southwest’s first Asian-American showcase.” The SXSW music festival has held a number of Asian acts in the past including the annual ‘K-Pop Night Out’ showcase but Chang said there was still a lack fo homegrown Asian-American talent.
“I saw Asian talent, I saw international talent flown in,” she said. “I didn’t see too many Asian-American artists.”
Chang hopes the 2017 Asian-American showcase will increase the amount of Asian-American talent at the SXSW music festival.
“I hope that our being at these events and having both the panel and the showcase can put our artists on the map,” Chang said. “A lot of really incredible artists were found there. I want to celebrate that this conversation is happening.”
“I think continuing to be persistent in the States and presenting the Asian-American story is so important, and I think we’ve made huge strides in the last two, three years,” Chang continued. “It’s going to be an ongoing movement. You’ve got to keep going forward, keep pushing forward.”
SXSW 2017 takes place between 10-19 March. Click here for more information.
