Joy in Precarity - Karaoke as Rematriation video zine

Joy in Precarity: Karaoke as Rematriation
video zine

Abstract

Karaoke as Rematriation and its accompanying Picnic as Scholarship event* are attempts at understanding health disparities within the Racialised Trans Migrant community in London. These events explore what remains of their ties to their roots/countries of origin and how reconnecting with these is synonymous with reconnecting with their authenticities, thereby creating less obvious yet hopefully more meaningful pathways to healing under duress.

The karaoke event was inspired by pre-colonial ritual specialists and healers from the Philippines called ‘Babaylan’, many of whom used their embodied voices in song to carry out healing rituals while channeling ancestral spirits. Many ‘babaylans’ transgressed gender categorisation or what may within modern contexts be referred to as transgender identities. While there are cis Babaylans, for all of them, gender is inevitably inconsequential. Using communal singing, a healing modality commonplace in many non-Western cultures as a starting point, the event took the karaoke concept, a practice usually associated with celebration, a step further by asking participants to sing only songs in their first language/mother tongues. The event facilitated a return to self and authenticity, a retethering to nature. The Picnic as Scholarship event* was held to allow space for them to contend with what the Karaoke event has surfaced for them individually and collectively, using art and zine-making as mediums.

These events were organised and participated in exclusively by migrant trans people of colour: from the program facilitator, to the mental health support and the participants. Food provided was culturally sensitive and London Chinatown’s diverse community provided the perfect backdrop for the coming together of migrant trans participants from varying parts of the ESEA region. All these conditions helped foster trust and safety among participants, conjuring joy in the process.

This video zine is a visual representation of what transpired at both events with some of the insights and learnings from both.

* Both events were birthed by the Centric Lab’s Trans and Non Binary Health Justice Program (thecentriclab.com). Nina Rivera originally created this video zine with full support and funding of Centric Lab as part of the report for the events, published in 2025 (https://www.thecentriclab.com/trans-migrant-people-of-colour-health-justice).

Nina Rivera is a community organiser, writer, dreamer, disruptor based in London. Originally from the Philippines, she is a brown trans woman who loves, lives, writes and works at the intersection of gender, race and immigration policy.

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rewave press | est. 2025

by Nina Rivera

read nina’s reflection on re:wave’s peer review process peer reviewed by sora anindya

Index

Abstract

Nina Rivera is a community organiser, writer, dreamer, disruptor based in London. Originally from the Philippines, she is a brown trans woman who loves, lives, writes and works at the intersection of gender, race and immigration policy.

NextTop

Nina Rivera is a community organiser, writer, dreamer, disruptor based in London. Originally from the Philippines, she is a brown trans woman who loves, lives, writes and works at the intersection of gender, race and immigration policy.

NextTop

Nina Rivera is a community organiser, writer, dreamer, disruptor based in London. Originally from the Philippines, she is a brown trans woman who loves, lives, writes and works at the intersection of gender, race and immigration policy.

NextTop

by Nina Rivera

read nina’s reflection on re:wave’s peer review processpeer reviewed by sora anindya

Index

Abstract

Nina Rivera is a community organiser, writer, dreamer, disruptor based in London. Originally from the Philippines, she is a brown trans woman who loves, lives, writes and works at the intersection of gender, race and immigration policy. NextTop

Nina Rivera is a community organiser, writer, dreamer, disruptor based in London. Originally from the Philippines, she is a brown trans woman who loves, lives, writes and works at the intersection of gender, race and immigration policy. NextTop

Nina Rivera is a community organiser, writer, dreamer, disruptor based in London. Originally from the Philippines, she is a brown trans woman who loves, lives, writes and works at the intersection of gender, race and immigration policy. NextTop

read nina’s reflection on re:wave’s peer review process peer reviewed by sora anindya

Nina Rivera is a community organiser, writer, dreamer, disruptor based in London. Originally from the Philippines, she is a brown trans woman who loves, lives, writes and works at the intersection of gender, race and immigration policy.

NextTop

Nina Rivera is a community organiser, writer, dreamer, disruptor based in London. Originally from the Philippines, she is a brown trans woman who loves, lives, writes and works at the intersection of gender, race and immigration policy.

NextTop

Nina Rivera is a community organiser, writer, dreamer, disruptor based in London. Originally from the Philippines, she is a brown trans woman who loves, lives, writes and works at the intersection of gender, race and immigration policy.

NextTop