Sharmi Basu (they/them) is a multimedia performance artist, curator, composer, activist, and arts organizer born and based in the unceded territories of the Chochenyo Ohlone peoples (Oakland, CA). They create expansive textural sound and performance pieces investigating resistance and organizing strategies through interactive sculpture and immersive multimedia experiences. They use electronics, interactive programming, textiles, video, sculpture, print-making, and zine-making in their decolonial worldbuilding. Sharmi creates new media controllers and interactive sculptures to investigate liberation practices and self-exploration through care and trauma. Sharmi’s performance project, Beast Nest, transmutes experiences of trauma through complex sonic textural layering. Sharmi received their MFA from Mills College and hosts international workshops that center on sound, somatics, decolonization, conflict, and collective transformation.

Sharmi currently serves as the Executive Director at Vital Arts, where they advocate for housing justice and artist self-determination. They also serve on the board of Bridge Live Arts, Bay Area Girls Rock Camp, Compton’s x Coalition, California FM, and Safer DIY Spaces. Their workshops on Decolonizing Sound have been presented internationally, including at Stanford University, Brown University, and Goldsmiths College.