About

portrait by geoff robertson

Kengchakaj (Gheng/chAH /kad)

Kengchakaj is a Bangkok-born, Lenapehoking (Brooklyn)-based Thai diaspora sound practitioner and improviser. He makes sound rooted in his lineage as a site of repair, reconciliation, and transformation — holding space for unlearning and relearning. These sounds arrive charged with political complexity and contested memory that permeate both personal and collective experience. His practice spans electro-acoustic piano, Southeast Asian tuned analog synthesizer, spatial audio, gong making, and live coding, harnessing technology to produce multisensory live performances.

Kengchakaj holds a graduate degree from the Manhattan School of Music and is a Fulbright Scholar and Gold Award Lumen Prize winner. He is currently a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow (2025–2028). Previous fellowships include Lincoln Center Collider Fellow (2024–2025), Eyebeam Democracy Machine Fellow (2024), Processing Foundation Fellow (2025), and membership in NEW INC Years 10 and 11. His projects have been presented at Barbican Centre (UK), Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum (US), National Communication Museum–NCM (AU), The Jazz Gallery (US), SOUND TYPE Festival at Asian Arts Initiative (US), AAPI Jazz Festival (US), DEMO Festival (US), Wonderfruit Festival (TH), CultureHub (US), Harvestworks (US), Flux Factory (US), Int-Act Festival 2022 (TH), and many more. He is one half of elekhlekha อีเหละเขละขละ, a collaborative duo with interdisciplinary media artist Nitcha Tothong.

-> CV

-> PRESS PICTURE