Dhaka-based music producer and journalist Khan Mohammad Faisal has been invited to Switzerland by Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council, for a research trip to explore the country’s music and new media industries.

Faisal, who co-founded the Dhaka Electronica Scene and The Akaliko Collective and Akaliko Records, is passionate about developing Dhaka’s cultural capital and promoting policy level reforms for the local music scene, according to a press release.

During his visit to Zurich and Bern, he aims to gain an introductory understanding of the different types of entities, their organizational structures, and models that exist in these cities, including those that work with music, sound, and new media formats.
The research will help plant the seeds for a circular economy in Dhaka’s music ecosystem and identify opportunities for feasible projects for artists, cultural practitioners, and organizations from Bangladesh and Switzerland using digital methods, the press release reads.

By studying Swiss entities’ practices, Faisal hopes to adapt them to Dhaka’s context where applicable and understand the local media’s role in the ecosystem. This research will also gradually build a strategic gateway for Bangladeshi talents in Europe through sustaining new connection, it said.

Khan Faisal produces music under the monikers The B Regiment and Dhaka Dub Hierarchy and is known for promoting emerging Bangladeshi artists through his DIY music compilations, music videos, documentaries, FM radio shows, events, and sound art projects. He has also received the BRAC Manthan Digital Innovation Award and was nominated as a Fellow for ‘The Future of Audio Entertainment’ at Berlin by The Do School.