chalo is a nascent interdisciplinary creative community and collaborative platform featuring the work of ethnically South Asian artists. With a long term aim to strengthen cross-cultural bonds by showcasing the vast breadth of talent within the community, the first volume features artists with heritage in Pakistan, India and Kashmir. Net proceeds from the compilation are going towards the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) and Zindagi Trust.

The first volume of chalo comprises of Pakistani and Indian artists across classical composers and underground hip-hop, visual artists and videographers, journalists and illustrators. It is a multi-tiered release featuring a video, podcast, print series and, most importantly, a music compilation.

Featuring an all-star cast of artists like that range from the cerebral (V.S Narasimhan), to editations on immigrant culture (Riz Ahmed), to post-modern pop (Kavya), to Kashmiri hip-hop (Ahmer), floating left-field electronica (Nabihah Iqbal) to meditative jazz (Sarathy Korwar) to tunes that will leave you sweating on the dance floor (MadstarBase), chalo vol. 1 showcases the diversity and musical range of South Asian artists. It dispels the notion that an often overlooked culture can be painted by one brush, a single narrative.

The compilation will be accompanied by a video piece that gives insight to the plight of artists of colour whilst also highlighting the unique cultural melting pot of influences. This ethos will be extended to an eight-episode podcast where discussions between artists from various parts of India and Pakistan will meditate on discussions of caste, class, politics, race and, amongst it all, the meaning of art. This will be released after the compilation’s launch on November 6th, with the album artwork by Shweta Sharma.

The net proceeds from the chalo project will be split between the Human Rights Law Network and Zindagi Trust which will contribute to the ongoing initiatives they are working on, including Rights to Food, Dalit Rights, Educational Reform, Women’s Justice and Empowerment.

"chalo stems from recognising that there’s a gap in the media we consume. Despite global political, industrial and technological significance, culturally, South Asia’s status is hidden in the margins. With a long term to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations while also elevating and showcasing peoples respective talents, چلو chalo aims to build, however we can, between people.”