AN(8)X fest 15-17.08.2024

Hey AN(8)X! 愛你八遍 Can you introduce yourself as a collective and individuals for our readers?
AN(8)X: AN(8)X is a Berlin-based artist collective founded in June 2022 by Yi, MengXuan Sun, Kloxii Li, ianyachichi and Jin.

We’re all practising artists and musicians who mostly come from fine arts backgrounds. The collective aims to foster artistic collaboration and dialogue among the subcultural groups within the Asian diasporic communities, and create a platform for emerging artists – especially queer FLINTA artists – presenting bold hybrid media works. Since AN(8)X’s inception we’ve produced 7 events in Berlin and have an ongoing monthly radio show on HKCR.

The name of our collective is inspired by the enigmatic “Covert Eight Immortals” in Chinese mythology, reflecting our shared heritage. These mythical beings are believed to possess the ability to seamlessly transform and traverse ethereal realms, holding profound knowledge of nature’s mysteries. In Chinese, the duality of meanings is often embraced, so AN(8)X was also coined by us as an abbreviation for ” à i| n ĭ |b ã | bi à n”, a lighthearted expression, meaning “love you eight times.”

How did you all get connected to one another and how was AN(8)X born?
AN(8)X: AN(8)X was born out of a series of serendipitous connections. Kloxii was introduced to MengXuan through a mutual friend, and on the same day, she came across Yi in an Instagram post about a Chinese community event. Feeling a spark, the three decided to meet up that very day. After connecting, they realised they not only shared similar backgrounds but also a strong desire to find a solution for the lack of spaces and platforms in Berlin that could bring the ESEA creative community together. It felt like a cosmic nudge to collaborate.

Within a month, AN(8)X was established. As the group formed, Bianyachichi and yan joined the crew, each bringing their unique contributions. A year later, Jin officially became a member after collaborating on the first 3 events. Everyone’s presence helped the collective’s vision naturally evolve.

AN(8)X has your first festival coming up from the 15th-17th of this month! Can you tell us more about this event and what we can expect to find over these three days?
AN(8)X: The first AN(8)X festival themed ‘shards, shards, whisper and flare’ features artists, musicians, community practitioners and organisers whose creations reveal intersecting themes and shared diasporic experiences.

Each day of the program has its own theme: the first day, “Pandemonium of Shards”, highlights the festival’s community focus, and traces ancestral roots in collective artistic practice; the second day, “A Whispered Murmur”, with the strongest experimental focus out of the three days, starts with a poetry salon, a SCREAM workshop, a listening session and rounds up with the return of AN(8)X’s signature live-focused club night; the final day, “Flaring in ur <3”, is composed of a food and craft market, a karaoke club, a mahjong workshop, and a queer FLINTA centred rave.

What motivated you to host this event and how does it differ from the previous work that your collective has been working on?
AN(8)X: This festival marks the natural progression of our growing experience, providing a broader platform to celebrate the diverse and intersectional narratives within our community. Our goal is to create an inviting, temporary communal space where rich, multi-sensory experiences can serve as catalysts for deeper connections within Berlin’s creative communities and beyond. While our past work has explored various themes and experiences, we have been refining our approach and identifying our strengths. This festival offers a chance to integrate a wide range of artistic practices and engage with the community in a more immersive and unique way that has not yet been widely available in Berlin. This festival provides an opportunity to bring together and showcase a diverse range of artistic practices and offers an immersive experience for our community.

Other Asian-diasporic events and initiatives in Berlin, like DAMN, Korientation, Korea Verband, YEOJA’s Celestial Festival, etc. that have been working hard in Berlin to create more visibility and community for the Asian Diasporic community, but it is definitely true that while Berlin is a city whose multicultural reputation precedes it, it in fact does not have nearly the kind of scope for the Asian diasporic community, or centralization/aggregation of events/collectives for the Asian diasporic community that other cities like London, L.A., or New York seem to offer. How can we change this?
AN(8)X: We came together in response to the lack of cohesion among the ESEA community in Berlin, but we also are aware that there is never one clear solution to a collective question/problem. We never intend to position ourselves as the ONE collective to “centralize” the Asian communities in Berlin. We grow with our community following our own instinctual interests and tactics, and we are always learning in this process, connecting and learning from our peers.

Berlin is the city with the least population in this list of global metropolises. Combining this fact with some historical reasons, it is not a surprise that the ESEA community in Berlin is lacking scope in comparison. But it has its own vibe, its own niche compared to London, LA, or New York, and we wish that this could also be shown through community mobilizing practices. We have always been more focused on showcasing interdisciplinary artistic practices that mingle closely with subculture. Berlin has the soil for what we’re doing and we want to bring the most out of it.

We don’t yet have all the answers to how we can bring about change. The idea to host a community dinner and panel talk during the festival stems from our many questions, struggles, and uncertainties. We want to create a space where we can exchange ideas, communicate openly, and think together.

While AN(8)X itself is a collective made up of Chinese Diasporic members, does AN(8)X festival aim to have a larger Asian Diasporic approach? If so, is it still important for AN(8)X festival to place a specific emphasis on the Chinese diasporic experience?
AN(8)X: We linked up partially because we share the same roots and speak the same mother tongue. But living in the west, we always find ourselves engaging with other fellow Asians, which is something that wouldn’t happen as much if we were just in our home country. This diversity, and the increased intimacy with neighbouring Asian communities that we have now is a beautiful thing – a privilege even! Therefore yes, we do aim to approach the larger Asian diasporic communities. Putting an emphasis on the Chinese diasporic experience is never our focus, instead, giving people the space, platform, and letting people share their own stories in their own way is the most important for us – this has always been a tacit principle in our event’s curation approach.

What was organising like in your home country and can you talk a little bit more about how it differs here? Even outside of being in touch with the larger Asian diasporic community and QT.BiPoC community at large in Berlin vs. facing a more homogeneous native population within China, was your focus different, due to histories, and systemic issues being different?
AN(8)X: We began our journey and formed our collective in Berlin, where most of us are still studying. Although we have attended events in China and observed differences in crowd engagement and promoter strategies compared to the West, we are still figuring out the dynamics of event organisation there. Since we still lack experience organising events in China, we can’t fully address this question at the moment. We hope that as we expand our activities to China, we’ll gain deeper insights and be able to provide more clarity on these differences!

Creating a safe(r) space where those from the Asian Diasporic community can be amongst each other is arguably not only important but necessary. However, so is integration with the larger BIPOC community as well as the larger community including allies outside of the BIPOC community. How does AN(8)X festival seek to address these different constellations?
AN(8)X: The focus on the ESEA until now is primarily curatorial, because it’s important for us for now to showcase people from the community. But the space that we create is not just for ESEA, the safety of our space is centred on the QT.BiPoC community at large. Whether in the structure of An(8)x events or in other parties we have done, we have also worked with non-ESEA artists and allies outside the BIPOC community. For us, strengthening this alliance is also very important.

As this is your first festival of this scale that you have been working on, what are the biggest lessons you have learnt thus far along the way? What has been the most surprising challenge? What has been surprisingly/unexpectedly easy?
AN(8)X: Our major challenge has been building a strong internal structure, meeting artists’ needs, and managing the budget to avoid overspending. As a team without formal event organisation training, we faced a steep learning curve in defining roles, delegating tasks, and balancing creativity with operational efficiency.

The administrative workload has been overwhelming; handling paperwork and coordinating with venues for budgeting and financial management demanded more diligence than we expected, pushing us to develop better organisational skills and seek tools to streamline these processes.

Overall, this experience has been a profound learning journey, expanding our understanding of event management and revealing new possibilities for future projects.

Lastly, what else is in store for AN(8)X this year?
AN(8)X: We’re already cooking up a collaborative event that will happen in October. But generally, winter is a good time for some housekeeping. We’re going to take some introspective time to focus on developing healthier collective work flow, allowing us to improve organisation and efficiency for the future. The more exciting project will begin towards the end of this year: we’ve been planning on making a compilation featuring some artists we’ve collaborated with in the past, along with the release of the compilation there’d also be merch drops so stay tuned! There’s definitely a lot more to come, and we’re excited to share it soon.

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an8x fest will be taking place from the 15-17.08.2024. To keep up with Aɴ(8)x 愛你八遍 on social media, click here. For more articles about Asian-Diasporic* centric events, click here. For more articles about Berlin-based events, click here.