Last weekend, as part of the Festival Bebas Batas showcase weekend, UK based Deaf Rave - a music party for deaf people - worked with Jakarta dance music collective PonYourTone to put on an event like no other, bringing the first ever deaf rave to the city.
The head organiser and founder of Deaf Rave, Troi ‘DJ Chinaman’ Lee, also delivered an event management workshop designed by and for deaf people, sharing his unique stories and secrets from 15 years of putting on rave nights across the UK
We spoke to Troi to find out more about his work and his time spent in Indonesia as part of UK/ID Festival 2018.
What is Deaf Rave and how does it work?
Deaf Rave is a non-profit organisation whose primary aim is to set up events for the deaf community, as they are a very marginalised and isolated sub-group in today’s society. My job is to create the event and get them all together as one. We need to socialise, we need to meet other deaf people, just like how hearing people do.
Indonesia is something else, it’s on another level.
What have you been doing here in Indonesia?
Indonesia has been absolutely fantastic, it’s one of my highlights in Asia. I’ve been coming to Asia for a couple of years now; I’m a quarter Chinese, a quarter Vietnamese, and half English. I’ve been going to Vietnam quite a lot, but Indonesia is something else, it’s on another level. The hospitality of the people has been 10/10, the coffee shops, the restaurants... they know how to look after you and they know about flavours! This is my first time here, but I’m definitely coming back again.
Is this your first time doing an international collaboration?
Absolutely, this is the first time Deaf Rave has been involved in an international collaboration and we’re very honoured that the British Council invited us to Festival Bebas Batas, and thanks to DaDaFest in Liverpool [who co-comissioned Deaf Rave] as well. You’ve made my dreams come true.
