On a blistering Sunday afternoon, the staccato beats of Jersey club are kneaded together with the flashy textures of Congolese soukous inside Elevator, one of Shanghai’s most popular—but now defunct—electronic dance venues. A group of young women is huddled behind two DJ mixers on opposite sides of the room instead of on the dance floor.
Started in March 2018, NÜ SHÙ (女术) is a Shanghai-based non-profit DJ collective that teaches women, femme-identified queers, or non-binary individuals with or without musical experience. In addition to Elevator, NÜ SHÙ has also hosted club nights and free workshops at DADA Shanghai, ALL Club, and Daliah. Their curricula range from lectures to technical equipment introductions to practical workshops where participants can bring their own flash drives of .mp3s to practice on CDJs. Prominent Shanghai-based female DJs including MIIIA, DIFAN, JI NA, and the 16-year-old Gouachi have been invited to share their expertise as guest instructors.
一个酷热的星期天下午，揉杂着 Jersey club 断续的节奏与 Congolese soukous 的华丽音效，上海曾最受欢迎的地下电子舞场之一：Elevator 里放着这样的音乐——但现在它却早已关门了。一群年轻女子却并没有挤在舞池里，而是站在两个 DJ 的混音器后面。
“NÜ SHÙ 女术”于 2018 年 3 月成立组合，是一个总部位于上海的非盈利性 DJ 集体：她们教授女性和非二元性别的酷儿人群，无论有没有音乐经验皆可。除 Elevator 外，“女术”还在上海 DADA、ALL 和 Daliah 举办俱乐部之夜和免费工作坊活动。他们的课程包括讲座、技术设备介绍、实用研讨会等，在那里，学员们可以携带自己的储存设备来播放 mp3 文件，以练习 CDJs。上海著名的 DJ 们，包括 MIIIA，DIFAN，JI NA，以及年仅 16 岁的 Gouachi 都被邀请来分享他们作为客座导师的专业知识。
The trio running the collective—DJs Asian Eyez, Amber Akilla, and Daliah—find it difficult to pinpoint an exact moment when NÜ SHÙ was conceived. Having all been connected either as housemates or via shared social spheres, the three DJs had common projects and focuses that made the workshop an obvious collaboration. “There’s just like this spirit and energy of women artists that I love to support,” says Asian Eyez. “Why shouldn’t we put together our connections and create something new? This workshop is another step for me—really focusing and reaching out to these girls—this makes me happy.”
Each of the founders brings their own unique sets of skills and connections to the project, pulling together everyone’s resources to fill in any gaps. On top of the founder themselves, NÜ SHÙ also collaborates with friends who are DJs, designers, and photographers to work together across different creative disciplines and create a bigger, self-sustaining organization. “I don’t really see myself as a talker or teacher, and that’s why I like to express myself in putting these kinds of events together,” says Asian Eyez. “I already have contacts when it comes to venues, DJs, and the teachers we need. As long as I’m in this industry, why shouldn’t I support all these women, when I have the ability to?”
“We meet a lot of girls, queer, and non-binary people who just don’t even know where to begin when it comes to DJing,” says Amber Akilla. “They love music but don’t know where to start. I think that just being able to create a space where people feel comfortable to learn new things, share ideas, and meet people is important. That’s more of what we’re trying to create, rather than create DJs.”
小组的三位成员 DJ Asian Eyez、Amber Akilla 和 Daliah 已经记不清是什么时候有了成立“女术”的想法。三人当初因为共同的社交圈子和作为室友相识，曾一起做过项目，加上相似的理念，最终一起成立了“女术”工作坊。“我一直很希望能支持女性艺术家的精神和能量。”Asian Eye说道，“那为什么我们不结合起来，一起进行新的创作？这个工作坊对我来说是迈出了新的一步——真正去关注和接触这些女性艺术家，这让我感到特别开心。”
作为创始人，她们分别为这个项目带来自己的专长和人脉，将大家的资源整合在一起，互补长短。除了创始人之外，“女术”也会与她们的 DJ、设计师和摄影师朋友合作，让跨越不同创意领域的人走在一起，共同创造出一个更大的、自我维持的组织。“我不觉得自己是演讲家或教师，但是正因如此，我喜欢通过组织这些活动来表达自己。”Asian Eyez 说，“我有场地资源，也有认识的 DJ 和老师。既然我身处这个行业，为什么不趁我有能力的时候去支持一下这个行业里的女性呢？”
Amber Akilla 说：“我们遇到过很多女性，还有 LGBTQI 群体（即同性恋、双性恋、跨性别者、酷儿和无性恋者），他们都不了解怎样才能成为 DJ。他们喜欢音乐，但不知道要从哪里开始。我觉得如果能够创造一个自在的空间，让大家去学习新的东西、分享观点与认识朋友，这样做很必要。所以，事实上，与其说我们在努力培养 DJ，还不如说是想打造这样一个空间。”
NÜ SHÙ is not the first organization of its kind. It follows a longer history paved by the ideas and work of their predecessors, including Discwoman in New York, SIREN in London, and North America-wide Intersessions. After attending an Intersessions workshop in Los Angeles back in 2016, Amber Akilla connected with that group’s co-founder Chippy Nonstop for advice on establishing a workshop structure, and eventually started NÜ SHÙ. As it and similar groups grow, the participants lift each other up, banding together to create a larger global community and support system for non-cis-male DJs.
“女术”并不是同类组织的首创。在它之前，已经有很多类似的组织，包括纽约的 Discwoman、伦敦的 SIREN 和北美地区的 Intersessions，在长时间的运作中，这些组织作出过许多的努力，也留下了很多想法。2016 年，Amber Akilla 参加了在洛杉矶举办的 Intersessions 工作坊。在开始“女术”之前，她也曾就工作坊组织结构的问题咨询过 Intersessions 的联合创始人 Chippy Nonstop 的意见。随着像“女术”这样的本地社团的发展，参与者可以相互扶持，联合起来创造一个属于非顺性男 DJ 的大型全球社团和支持组织。（注：顺性男即 Cis-male，指出生时生物性别是男性，自己也觉得自己是男性的人群。）
At NÜ SHÙ’s first club night, at DADA Shanghai in August 2018, Intersessions instructor Bambii headlined with support from Asian Eyez and Amber Akilla, NÜ SHÙ instructors JI NA and Gouachi, and an open deck at the beginning of the night reserved for NÜ SHÙ students to gain DJ experience in a live club setting. NÜ SHÙ’s roles as both a workshop and event organizer allow for a self-sustaining line of continuity and consistency within the community, in which opportunities for learning can directly link to opportunities for performing.
“When I was growing up, I always felt like it was a competition between women,” says Amber Akilla. “You have to be protective of your own space or whatever you’ve created for yourself because you’re always pitted against each other, especially in the industry. I feel like men have much more space to just create what they want even if what they’re doing already exists. It’s slowly changing through social media—you see more women and non-binary communities sharing and collaborating more.”
去年 8月，“女术”在上海 DADA 酒吧举办了第一次的活动。由 Intersessions 讲师 Bambii 带领，在 Asian Eye 和 Amber Akilla 的支持下，“女术”的 JI NA 和 Gouachi 担任主讲，在当晚让“女术”学员在俱乐部现场学习 DJ 经验。因为同时作为工作坊和活动组织者的角色，让“女术”在社区内实现了自我持续的连续性和一致性，在这种形式下，学习与表演的机会往往是连在一起的。
“在我成长的过程中，我总觉得女人之间充满了竞争。”Amber Akilla 说，“你必须时刻保护好自己的空间或任何你自己的创造，因为大家都像是在互有争斗，特别是在这个行业。但对男性来说，他们却似乎有更多的空间来自由创造，即便他们所创造的是一些已经存在的事物。而随着社交媒体的发展，这种情况慢慢地得到了改变——你可以看到越来越多的女性和跨性别人群在共享和协作。”
Although it’s found inspiration in Intersessions and Discwoman, NÜ SHÙ is still localized and rooted in Shanghai—meaning that the steps, decisions, and priorities in community-building can look different. For each workshop, they invite two instructors to teach at opposite ends of the space, one in Mandarin and one in English. Contrasting against Discwoman’s explicitly political focus and speaking out against sexism, NÜ SHÙ has emphasized that rather than resisting gender structures, their priority is on learning and connecting through music.
“Our experiences as women mostly exist outside of China, so it’s really important to me, as a weird visitor who’s local but non-local, to not force any identity politics onto people here,” says Amber Akilla. “How gender inequality and feminist issues exist in China is just different from the West, and it’s not my place.”
虽然“女术”的创立灵感来自于 Intersessions 和 Discwoman，但它仍是一个扎根于上海的本地组织——这意味着团体的运作步骤、决策和在社区建设的优先级可能会有所不同。每次工作坊，“NÜ SHÙ 女术”都会邀请两名主讲，分别在空间的两端以普通话和英语授课。并且，与 Discwoman 针对性别歧视的鲜明政治立场和反对声音不同，“女术”是强调而不是抵制性别结构，其首要重点是学习，以及如何通过音乐把人们连接起来。
“作为女性，我们大部分的生活经验是在中国以外的地方，在这里，我们是‘奇怪的游客’，既是本地人也是异乡人，所以我们不想将自己的政治观点强加于这里的人们。”Amber Akilla 说，“中国的性别不平等和女权问题与其它西方国家的情况是不一样的。所以这里并不是我的主场。”
Moreover, the founders agree that gender inequality is not as embedded in China’s young and developing music scenes as it is in the US and Europe’s long history of club music. “I feel like for us in Shanghai, it’s much more welcoming for women—as a female DJ you’re not questioned as much here from my experience,” says Amber Akilla. “Even though the scene isn’t as ‘bro-y,’ we can say that most spaces are inclusive of men, and a lot of the time, women and minorities feel intimidated to start their own thing—so that’s why this project is femme-queer-focused. This is our trying to lead by example. You don’t have to try to get on lineups that are male-dominated, you can create your own line-up.”
Creating a space is step one of the continuous process that is “community”—sustaining a community is work that requires constant reflection and dialogue. Because of the founders’ personal experiences, NÜ SHÙ started out as a DJ workshop, yet they acknowledge the possibilities of expanding outside of Shanghai and trying other formats and skill sharing. They also want to take their time in figuring out the best way to develop and maintain the existing community.
此外，“女术”的创始人一致认为，在中国这个年轻和新兴的音乐领域，性别不平等并不像美国和欧洲这些有着悠久俱乐部历史的地方一样根深蒂固。Amber Akilla 说：“我觉得在上海，女性 DJ 会更受欢迎一些——从我自己的经验来看，女性 DJ 在这里受到的质疑会更少一些。虽然这个行业不能算是完全男性的天下，但我们可以说，大部分地方都是男性为主的，很多时候，女性就像少数群体一样，不敢去开始自己的事业——正因为这样，这个项目才会以女性 LGBT 群体为重点。我们想要通过行动告诉其他人，你不必试图在由男性占主导的世界里排队等候自己的机会，你完全可以创造出属于自己的天地。”
创建这样的空间只是打造“社区”的其中一步——要维持这样的社区，需要不断反思和对话。因为创始人的个人经验，“女术”最开始是作为一个 DJ 工作坊的形式存在的；但是，她们也表示，将来会有可能扩展到上海以外的地方，她们在尝试其他形式的技能分享活动，同时也在努力思考发展和维持现有社区的最佳途径。
Instagram: @nvshushanghai
Photographers & Contributors: Jasmine Lin, April Lin
Additional Images Courtesy of NÜ SHÙ
Chinese Translation: Olivia Li
