Satrang at 25: Queer South Asian Diaspora(s)

The ONE Archives at USC Libraries in partnership with SAADA (South Asian American Digital Archive) and Satrang is delighted to invite you for the launch of the digital exhibition Satrang at 25: Queer South Asian Diaspora(s) in Context. Originally organized on-site at ONE Archives in Los Angeles by the curators Aziz Sohail and Alexis Bard Johnson, we are thrilled to make this project permanently available online through SAADA. To celebrate the launch, we will have reflections by scholars, artists, and activists from the community, including Kareem Khubchandani, D’Lo, Sheena Malhotra and Debanuj DasGupta before ending with an exciting announcement! The celebration will take place on Thursday, June 15th 7 PM Eastern Time / 4 PM Pacific Time on Zoom. We look forward to you joining us. Link to register is here.

This exhibition traces the affective history of Satrang and its relationship to broader queer diasporic South Asian worldmaking. Satrang (seven colors), formerly named TrikoneLA, has been the primary queer South Asian community organization in Southern California since 1997. Its founding was catalyzed by Trikone (triangle), a magazine that began in 1986 in the Bay Area and circulated throughout North America, Europe, and South Asia. While Satrang originated as a group of individuals getting together to share potluck meals, it has grown to become an organization that marches in Pride Parades, engages in outreach, and hosts special events for families and youth. Through magazines, pamphlets, photographs, and oral histories, it presents key moments in the organization's development, including its early evolution, important social and community gatherings, marches, and workshops. While gesturing to the past, the exhibition also looks to the future, asking how Satrang may continue to evolve. This presentation explores: how can an LGBTQ community organization hold intergenerational memory? How does it simultaneously celebrate collective joy and also give space to grief? And how does it respond to the needs of a diverse and complex community, creating a safe space for all?