During the COVID lockdowns it seemed that everyone was making a podcast, but who was listening? fugitive radio asks what is it that we’re doing when we think we are making radio. It approaches radio as a social practice, proposing that post-internet radio is a kind of counter culture to the extractive “pics-or-it-didn’t-happen” default mode of platform capitalism.
Since 2020, fugitive radio has sought to develop collectively realised modes of perfomance/participatory radio using free/libre and open source tools. So far these include: radiophonic picnics, audio fanzines, a karaoke therapy clinic and an online club, RUB and several one-of-a-kind events. Live broadcasts are often supported by {openradio} and πnode. The fugitive frequency podcast broadcasts on the first Tuesday of every month with CoLaboRadio on Freie Radios – Berlin Brandenburg and is available on Helsinki Open Waves. Select episodes and events have been broadcast on radiophrenia [Instagram] and Stegi Radio. fugitive radio participated in documenta fifteen curated by ruangrupa, and it continues to be a part of lumbung radio.
fugitive radio was initiated in 2020 by Sumugan Sivanesan to research migrant, queer and anticolonial issues and music in Helsinki and beyond, in collaboration with Pixelache Helsinki and generously supported by Kone Foundation (2020–2021).