Katayoun Katayoun
Katayoun is a curator, DJ-archivist, selector, and radio host based in Amsterdam. With a boundless approach to music, she has dedicated herself to uncovering, collecting, and preserving Iranian music from the 1930s to the 1980s, focusing on classical, soulful, and spiritual Persian Avaz, jazz-funk, upbeat funk, and Iranian dance music. Her research project and radio show, Female Vocalists from Iran and Beyond (2018-present), shines a light on various musical connections and 20th-century female singers from Iran, showcasing often overlooked, understudied, and lesser-known music and voices.
Currently, Katayoun hosts a monthly show on Kiosk Radio called Sonic Imaginaries, where she explores Iranian grooves and their connections to other musical traditions, including Latin music. Her warm, soulful, and dreamlike sets have taken her to various stages, such as supporting Sevdaliza, performing at Lowlands festival, and featuring on My Analog Journal. Katayoun is also the organizer of Disco Diaspora (2018-present), a multidisciplinary event series that transports the dance floor across different locations, time periods, and musical genres, encouraging audiences to celebrate sonic diversity while shedding light on the socio-political aspects of diasporic cultural expression.
Katayoun has also curated exhibitions at Framer Framed, including The End of This Story (And the Beginning of All Others) (2015) and Voices Outside the Echo Chamber (2016).