OMK exhibition in Seoul traces the roots of Philippine soundsystem culture
The event features photography & footage from a research trip into budots, the first in a three-part series on Asian dance music
Manila-based DJ collective OMK is bringing its research on Asian club culture to Seoul with an exhibition on September 18-October 17 at Cord / Helicopter Records.
Titled ADM Modernology — New Ways of Playing with Music in the Post-SNS Era, it's the first in a three-part series on regional dance music across Asia.
This first chapter, Living with Sound Systems, looks at the Philippines; specifically at the soundsystem culture built around budots in Mindanao.
The material on display comes from a research trip that two DJs within OMK (Soi48 and Rich & Busy) took to Davao and Toril in August 2026.
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Photographer Keisuke Nagoshi and filmmaker Jay Rosas joined them on the trip, and their photography and documentary footage form the basis of the exhibition.
Read this next: The Budots Three are leading Filipino dance music’s world takeover
The project responds to how streaming platforms and algorithms now shape music discovery. Instead of following those systems, it uses fieldwork to look past the tracks themselves, focusing on the communities and physical setups behind them.
A related workshop follows on September 19. Led by Soi48 and Rich & Busy, the limited capacity session will feature lectures, group discussion and presentations.
Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.
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