Norient

He is an anthropologist/ethnomusicologist, audio-visual artist, and writer from Bern (Switzerland). He is the founder and director of Norient (Norient.com), and the founder and strategic director of the Norient Festival (NF).

He co-directed the documentary films Contradict (Berner Filmpreis 2020) and Ghana Controversial (Al-Jazeera Witness, 2019), the AV / theatre / dance performance Clash of Gods (2018), is the author of Local Music Scenes and Globalization: Transnational Platforms in Beirut (Routledge).

He also co-edited several books: e.g., The Arab Avant Garde: Musical Innovation in the Middle East (Wesleyan University Press), Seismographic Sounds – Visions of a New World (Norient Books).

His experimental radio feature, Gqom Edits – A Durban Visit, was nominated for Prix Europa in 2017. Burkhalter teaches regularly at universities and runs workshops for arts institutions.

Currently, he is working on his new music/dance/video project Melodies In My Head, and on the podcast series Long Take with musicians from the UK, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.