SRS (Silk Road Songbook)

In the multi-screen project SRS (Silk Road Songbook), Millie Chen and Arzu Ozkal weave together images and sound in such a way that the evocation of the limitless sense of possibility persistently presents itself. Videos depicting open (though not barren) landscapes from Istanbul, Tehran, Tashkent, Bishkek, and Xi'an are presented with accompanying songs specific to the location along the historical "Silk Road." That road and its historical relevance have typically been framed from Western perspectives: a trade route brought about by Europeans' fascination with distant lands—their spices, their fabrics, their exotic otherness. The work counters the conventional narrative of these trade routes and the Eurocentric presumptions around them.

While the work is not explicitly about immigration as we know it today, it does direct attention to the reality that a Silk Road, or any other trade route, is the culmination of extensive migration. Refugees, women, families, and souls filled with wanderlust created not a single road but a network of interlaced routes, creating a perpetual intersection of dreams, desires, and aspirations. There is daring in this, but also trepidation, danger and a world of unknowns. These uncertainties play out across a brilliantly expansive landscape, filmed with such quiet elegance in locations that are still lightly developed. It suffuses the work with a timeless sensation—we know these images are contemporary but they sometimes feel as though they were retrieved from some ancient, collective memory.

Each video features the performance of a song by collaborators from the local community. These songs lift and highlight women's voices as the driving force of the location and its migratory impulses. The land—which, in some cases, appears untouched from a thousand years ago—visually grounds the work between its five projections and reiterates the geographic context from which these songs emerge. The participating musicians chose both the music and the landscape upon which to perform. Chen and Ozkal serve as the artist-ethnographers whose task is both to lift these voices and stories—some of which directly connects to the artists' own familial heritages—and create an atmospheric space that leads the viewer across eons of the past and potentially toward a more cognizant future.

With its direct allusions to crossing vast lands to its specificity of song choices, SRS seeks to widen an established narrative and reveal the texture of hundreds of overlapping narratives within the whole. While SRS deals with five locations, the suggestions brought about by the work are not exclusive to the Silk Road. These are but a few select versions of the limitless immigrant narratives that defined not only the Silk Road but every other place that sustained such persistent and ongoing human activity.

SRS also upends our presumptions of superiority over ancient peoples—technologically advanced we may be, but these ancient trade routes defined by human legs, animal tracks, and carts are the same paths used today to transport electronics, fuel, and nation-building projects. In this respect, the work reminds us that all of our present efforts are reverberations from a deeper well of history that is expressed here by songs of mourning, dissent, fortitude, and joy. There is no easy path, then or now, and the culmination of all journeys is hard won. Then and now.

Bios

Millie Chen
Millie Chen creates visual, audio, and performative works that challenge habitual viewing and emphasize sensory knowledge. Her socially driven art has been exhibited globally, including at Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Centre Culturel Canadien Paris, The Power Plant, and Shanghai Expo. She is Professor of Art at the University at Buffalo.

Arzu Ozkal
Arzu Ozkal is a Turkish-born artist and designer exploring design activism and social participation, particularly concerning women’s roles in contemporary culture. She has exhibited globally and co-edited Cabaret Voltaire: Fluxus West, San Diego, and Southern California Mail Art. Ozkal is Professor of Graphic Design at San Diego State University.  

Biographies of SRS Collaborators  SRS Istanbul (Turkey) 

Deniz Taşar
Deniz Taşar is an Istanbul-based singer-songwriter and multidisciplinary artist whose genre-bending jazz compositions fuse storytelling with personal reflection. She has performed in many prestigious festivals locally and internationally with her albums Uykuda Bir Bulut (2016), Chapter One (2016) under the name Songs From A Breeze, Pişman Olunmayan Dünler (2021) and OVERFLOWING (2024). She is the founder of SOLAS Records. 

Adem Gülşen
Adem Gülşen is a Turkish composer and performer trained in jazz theory and improvisation. He has collaborated with leading musicians including Hüsnü Şenlendirici and Birsen Tezer, and created his first solo release, Blow Up, in 2024. He has performed in numerous festivals since 2008 and is known for his versatile work across genres and projects. 

Baran GöksuBaran Göksu studied Composition and Sound Technologies at Istanbul Bilgi University. While studying, he founded his own studio, “Stüdyo Bee,” working as a producer and engineer with a wide range of artists. He has worked independently in various studios, including the renowned Erekli-Tunç Studios, and is general manager and co-founder of Leon Cymbals, an orchestral cymbal band. 

Deniz BankalDeniz Bankal is an Istanbul-based music and visual arts curator and multidisciplinary artist. With a background in photography, video, and illustration, her work explores the relationship between space and sound, spanning music programming and visual production. She is the creative director of Bant Mag and eventdirector at BİNA, one of Istanbul’s key independent cultural hubs. 

Alev Ersan
Alev Ersan is an artist, writer, and translator working across media including installation, animation, and poetry. Her practice explores the interrelation of language, memory, and desire. Recent work includes Still in My Quotidian (De Appel, Amsterdam) and Radiant Absence (monograph for Füsun Onur). She lives between Istanbul and Amsterdam.  

SRS Parkent (Uzbekistan) Alexey Ulko
Alexey Ulko is a filmmaker, curator, and writer based in Samarkand and Tashkent. A specialist in Central Asian contemporary art, he has curated festivals and written extensively for journals across the region. Ulko is also the author of Uzbekistan Customs and Culture and a member of several international academic societies. 

Feride Girgin
Feride Girgin is a Tashkent-born vocalist whose style spans jazz, avant-garde, and folk. With roots in Crimean Tatar and Turkish culture, she weaves these traditions into her original compositions and performances. 

Vadim Shvedchikov
Vadim Shvedchikov is a Tashkent-born horn player who has performed with major orchestras including the Shanghai Opera House and Nurnberg Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, he has worked with renowned conductors worldwide. In 2016, he was named Musician of the Year by the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra. 

Ashot Danielyan
Ashot Danielyan is a Tashkent-based musician, poet, and founder of the band Origami Wings. He co-founded Ilkhom Rock Fest and has toured internationally. Danielyan won the 2018 Goethe Poetry Slam and is active in cross-cultural projects addressing social and environmental issues. His work has been presented across Central Asia, Russia, Eastern Europe, Japan, and the U.S. 

Umida Akhmedova
Umida Akhmedova is a Tashkent-based photographer and filmmaker known for her human rights work in Uzbekistan. A graduate of the Soviet State Institute of Cinematography, her exhibitions have shown internationally. Her activism has led to state persecution, and in 2016 she received the Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent. 

Cho’lpon
Cho’lpon (1897–1938), born Abdulhamid Sulaymon oʻgʻli Yunusov, was a pioneering Uzbek poet, novelist, and translator. His criticism of Soviet rule and association with nationalist movements led to his execution during the Great Purge. His work remains foundational in modern Uzbek literature. Kristen Jasmin Fort
Chris Fort is Assistant Professor at American University of Central Asia. She holds a PhD from the University of Michigan and translates Uzbek literature into English. Her scholarship spans 19th to 21st-century Russian and Central Asian literature.  

SRS Kangle (China) Mengmeng Wang
Mengmeng Wang is a curator and Professor at Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, where she directs the Department of Transmedia Art. With a doctorate in contemporary art criticism, she has curated widely and published in key Chinese art journals. She collaborates with institutions internationally and nominates emerging artists for prestigious awards and exhibitions in China. 

Junfang Zhang
Junfang Zhang is a Hua’er singer from rural Gansu, China. A former cattle herder, she now performs at a restaurant, balancing tradition and livelihood. Despite social stigma, she embraces singing to support her children, especially her son’s future. Her performances reflect resilience, cultural pride, and a deep-rooted love of song. 

Mei Yang
Mei Yang is a Hua’er singer and farmer from Kangle, Gansu Province. She performs in restaurants and rural venues, keeping alive the region’s rich folk tradition. Balancing agrarian labor and music, her work embodies the enduring voice of local oral culture and community expression. 

thruoutin (Brad M. Seippel)
thruoutin is an American electronic producer and multi-instrumentalist based in China since 2009. His genre-crossing music blends organic and digital textures, spanning club, ambient, and experimental sounds. He has toured internationally and released music on global and Chinese labels. His recommended EPs include Ghost Lineage and Perseverance Selects on Bandcamp. 

YaQian Zhang
YaQian Zhang is an artist, teacher and doctoral candidate at Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, specializing in art history and experimental art. Born in Gansu, he studied printmaking and now explores contemporary artistic practice. He lives and works in Xi’an. 

Qi Shen
Qi Shen is a conceptual artist from Xi’an. A 2020 graduate of San Francisco Art Institute, her work spans text, painting, and installation. She investigates emotional instability and fluid identity through oppositional frameworks such as chaos and order, sensibility and rationality. 

Tong Niu
Tong Niu is a Nanjing-born cinematographer and artist whose practice includes film, text, and installation. His work explores space and urbanization and has been shortlisted for awards like the Leica Oskar Barnack Award. He creates contemplative visual narratives about human environments and evolving cityscapes. 

Fanghai Yin
Fanghai Yin is a China-born translator, artist, and founder of an alternative art space in New York for international women artists. A former singer-songwriter and model, her research explores intimacy’s commodification, immigrant cultural labor, and Asian entertainment economies. She translates in both legal and cultural fields.  

SRS Chubar (Iran) 

Baran Ehsaei (Faunoos)
Baran Ehsaei, performing as Faunoos, is a performance artist and composer based in Los Angeles. Trained in classical piano and vocals, she holds a BA in playwriting and composes for theatre and film. Currently studying performance and composition at CalArts and working as a piano technician, her debut album features lullabies inspired by Persian and global folk traditions. 

Arash Zarabi
Arash Zarabi is a Tehran-based composer and double bass player. With classical roots in orchestras like the Tehran Symphony, he now explores jazz, folk, soul and alternative genres. His work includes projects such as “The 32nd Street” and “Roonevisi.” He has performed widely and collaborated with notable Iranian and international musicians including Baran Ehsaei. 

Amirhossein Taqavi
Amirhossein Taqavi is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker. He studied architecture and dramatic literature in Tehran and has created alternative films, often on contemporary dance. Recently, Taqavi explores painting, sculpture, and NFT art, exhibiting in prominent Tehran galleries and expanding his practice into new contemporary art forms. 

Reza Baraheni
Reza Baraheni (1935–2022) was a prolific Iranian novelist, poet, critic, and human rights activist from Tabriz. Arrested and exiled for his activism, he authored over 60 books in Persian and English and taught at major universities in Iran, the U.S., and Canada. Baraheni led PEN Canada and advocated for freedom of speech internationally. 

Sheida DayaniSheida Dayani is a scholar and writer whose forthcoming book, Making History with Theatre in Modern Iran (Edinburgh University Press), offers a new social history of Iran through theatrical sources. Her Persian poetry and translations appear in Tajrobeh, Bukhara, and Negāh-e No; her English work has featured on Jadaliyya and NPR. She has also served as interpreter for acclaimed filmmakers Abbas Kiarostami and Asghar Farhadi.  

SRS Issyk-Kul (Kyrgyzstan) 

Gulzada Ryskulova
Gulzada Ryskulova, a vocalist and composer from the Osh region, is of nomadic Kyrgyz descent. Rooted in traditional Kyrgyz music, she blends heritage with experimentation across genres while challenging patriarchy. She has authored over 100 works and performed in 300+ international concerts. Gulzada represented Kyrgyz culture at the UN World Congress of Women and serves as Volunteer Ambassador of the World Nomad Games. 

Diana Rakhmanova
Diana Rakhmanova is an artist, curator, and cultural leader from Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan. Founder of the Cultural Center “Kuduk” in Bishkek, she manages eco-art and cultural programs, creating autobiographical installations and cultural exchanges. Exhibited internationally, she participated in documenta fifteen and residencies in Colombia, Mexico, and Indonesia. Diana is a 2025 ArtsLink Fellow in the USA. 

Ilya Karimdjanov (Ilya Dari)
Born in Bishkek, Ilya Karimdjanov is an artist and psychologist who exhibits his work and supports art initiatives. He combines therapy and art, emphasizing well-being without strict rules, focusing on individual happiness. 

Pavel Potashov
Born in Tekeli, Pavel Potashov began with youth TV production and evolved into independent screen arts. Experienced in commercial production, he works as a creative concept developer, screenwriter, and director. 

Nurgul Karyberkova
Nurgul Karybekova is an educator and English-Kyrgyz translator with 12 years of experience. She has translated over 18 projects, including children’s books and poetry, and won the 2016 "Best Translator of the Year" award for American children’s literature translations.  

Post-production  

Jean Martin
Jean Martin, Toronto-based musician and producer, collaborates widely across Canada and internationally. Known for his work with Tanya Tagaq and others, he’s recorded with luminaries like David Murray. Artistic Director of Barnyard Records, Martin produced or engineered 100+ projects across genres. In 2024, he won the Freddy Stone Award for excellence in contemporary Canadian music. 

Chris Ferrari
Chris Ferrari is a video editor who has collaborated for over a decade with artist Millie Chen, including on (SRS) Silk Road Songbook. Passionate about landscapes and sociopolitical awareness, he merges technical skill with storytelling to create immersive, thought-provoking art projects that connect environment, culture, and history. 

Sangjun Yoo
Sangjun Yoo, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at James Madison University specializing in digital media and experimental arts. His work explores screens as evolving surfaces that make invisible information visible, blending technology, perception, and space. Yoo has exhibited internationally in Germany, Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, Portugal, South Korea, and the U.S. with residencies in the U.S. and Europe.

Yasmeen Siddiqui
Yasmeen M. Siddiqui is editor, writer, educator, and artistic director of Minerva Projects. Co-editor of Storytellers of Art Histories, she publishes widely and holds fellowships from Yaddo and Ucross. Siddiqui is on the faculty at Pratt Institute and serves as a board member of Voices in Contemporary Art (VoCA).