As the first chord of her song rings through the air, Kai Mata's voice carries more than melody - it carries a message.
We are more than the suffering imposed on us
We deserve to be heard, seen and loved.
A singer, activist and proud LGBTQ+ member, Kai Mata is shattering the stereotype of the role of art in social justice. Known as the first openly gay musician in Indonesia, she has witnessed firsthand what it is like to be an ethnic minority as well as openly queer in a nation where the rights of the LGBTQ+ population are extremely limited and she is using her voice to fight for equal rights. Now through her work as a resident practitioner with Binghamton University's Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention (I-GMAP), she is dedicated to preserving marginalized histories and bridging cultures through music.
As an I-GMAP resident practitioner, she is visiting Binghamton University for a semester to reflect on her work, interact with faculty and students, and collaborate with others on developing new projects. She is honored to be one of the distinguished practitioners that I-GMAP hosts each year in this capacity, sharing her knowledge through events, conversations and scholarly engagement.
For Kai, activism extends beyond academics and policy discussions; it is also deeply embedded in her music. She has challenged social standards and self-censorship by using her music to start conversations around LGBTQ+ rights.
"I was 15 years old in Jakarta, surrounded by millions of people, yet I felt lonely," she said. "Everything I saw on the news associated being LGBTQ with suffering. I vowed to hide my identity forever. But now, I choose to be the person I wish had existed when I was younger - a beacon of hope for others."
Her activism took a turning point in 2020 when she released a video opposing Indonesia's proposed bill mandating conversion therapy that forced LGBTQ people into treatment to "cure" their sexual orientation or gender identity. The short clip in which she declared "I am Indonesian, and I am flaming gay" was viewed by half a million people globally. She became well-known as a prominent advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in Indonesia as a result of that video.
Kai's journey has now led her to Binghamton, where she is exploring how music can contribute to preventing genocide and mass atrocity. She has been honored with the Second Joint Annual ARTivist Award - which was given by the Auschwitz Institute, the Global Campus of Human Rights, and Binghamton University's I-GMAP - for her ability to combine activism and art in a way that has a global impact. She is interested in collective memory - the way in which societies remember or erase histories of oppression - which makes her work with I-GMAP particularly personal.
Closing the distance between activism and academics
Kai's main goal at Binghamton is to close the gap between academia and the public.
"Queerness is seen in Indonesia as a modern phenomenon, something new," she said. "But the truth is that we had multiple gender identities and sexual orientation integrated into our history for centuries. Colonialism erased those histories. My project here at Binghamton is to dig through archives, recover those lost histories and put them back into public consciousness."
Mata believes that research, numbers and data are crucial but they often do not trickle down to common people.
"Academia is really quite an ivory tower," she said. "But what if we took these academic findings and made them something that people could experience: a song, a performance, a festival? That is my job. I take the complex work that scholars are doing and make it sound like music that people dance, cry and, most importantly - think."
Through her partnership with I-GMAP, she intends to develop a proof of concept - a blueprint for incorporating creative activism into academic settings. Her vision includes establishing projects that combine research with music and creating interactive workshops that educate students on how to use art for activism.
Mata is committed to changing the way that LGBTQ+ identities and oppressed histories are portrayed through her work at Binghamton University. She is determined to ensure that no one experiences the same sense of loneliness that she once did.
"We can be more than the suffering imposed on us," she said. "Through music, memory and action, we can reclaim our space in history and build a future where everyone is free to be who they are."
With her guitar in hand and an unstoppable passion in her heart, Mata is just beginning to make her mark.
