RADIO KHIYABAN was founded in 2018 by Afghan-American musician and artist N.R. Safi in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Envisioned as an underground artistic platform for radical and forward-thinking music from the greater SWANA region and its global diaspora, the project began as a relatively straightforward DIY cassette label, quickly releasing new albums from artists such as Carrom and Naujawanan Baidar, as well as freely-distributed street recordings giving glimpse into the raw power and vitality of what might otherwise be referred to as "overlooked or under-represented musics."

Fast forward several years - a few more tape releases, an economic crisis, a global pandemic - and Radio Khiyaban has very much widened its initial vision. While staying rooted in its origins as a forward-thinking independent music label, it has begun to grow towards a much more kaleidoscopic and multidisciplinary approach. Beyond releasing new music, Radio Khiyaban also seeks to help connect, platform, and engage with all types of artists, independent voices, and activists from the region (rather broadly defined, and with allowance for the occasional geographic exception). Whether you are an Egyptian free jazz collective, a traditional Palestinian folk singer based in Oman, an iconoclastic French-Iranian poet, or a young experimental photographer from Lahore, we want to hear what you have to say. The goals contained in this call are manifold: to burn down the borders between cultures, dissolve dominant orientalist narratives, emphasize subaltern and anti-imperialist struggles, and highlight the absolutely overwhelming flood of overlooked or hidden creativity in parts of the world that the Global North blatantly discounts or even seeks to muzzle.

Future projects and goals include launching a podcast series and gradually expanding the range of contributions to the "News & Features" section of our website, for which we are always on the lookout for interested poets, essayists, journalists, cultural historians, storytellers, and everyday voices. We also have a line of extremely exciting music queued for release (including several vinyl LP releases), and as of 2022 we are in the early stages of preparing several runs of printed literary and artistic material as well.

If you would like to get involved with Radio Khiyaban, submit your music, art, or text for publication, or simply have a general question, concern, or stray thought, please feel free to get in touch by emailing us at RADIO KHIYABAN at G MAIL dot COM, or using the form below. We constantly seek to improve our organization and practice and welcome any suggestions (or good-faith criticism!)