+ guided exhibition tour led by Kristiina Koskentola
18 April 2025
Tour: 15:30–17:00 / Casco HQ
Concert: 20:00–22:00 / De Kargadoor, Oudegracht 36, 3511 AP Utrecht
We are delighted to welcome Manchu shamanic composer Han Xiaohan for a special concert as part of Sensing the Ways in Utrecht—an extraordinary moment we hope you can join and not miss.
The day’s program begins with an exhibition tour from 15:30 to 17:00, led by artist Kristiina Koskentola. Over the past few years, Kristiina and Han Xiaohan have collaborated closely, and their film installation Thawing of the Frozen Rivers, featured in the exhibition, marks the first time they present a joint work.
After the tour, take some time to enjoy food around town before we reconvene at 20:00 at De Kargadoor, a cultural venue on Oudegracht in Utrecht, for Han Xiaohan’s concert.
Since 2003, Han Xiaohan has focused on collecting, organizing, and reinterpreting the music of the Tungusic-Manchu people, his own heritage. For over two decades, he has dedicated himself to studying traditional Manchu music and recreating it based on its original structures. To research shamanic music, he visits dozens of remote villages in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia, making field recordings and practicing it in situated forms throughout the taiga landscapes. With Manchu culture and music at risk of disappearing, his work plays a vital role in preserving and regenerating these knowledges.
At the concert, Han Xiaohan invites us to experience the traditions of the Tungusic-Manchu people through his musicality, incorporating shamanic sounds—through instruments, technique, performance, and vocal chants rooted in his culture. A distinguished master of the shaman drum, he intertwines ritualistic elements with poetic songwriting, reflecting on the sacred connection between humans, spirits, and the natural worlds.
Admission to the concert is free.
