Club Kali

The club night, Club Kali was co-founded by DJ Ritu and Rita Hirani in 1995. Emerging from the South Asian Lesbian and Gay network Shakti, initiated in 1987/8, where DJ Ritu was a resident DJ at Shakti Disco, Club Kali was created as a safe space for, and to celebrate, the LGBTQ+ South Asian community.

Club Kali’s founding was a direct response to the racialized homophobia faced by South Asians within their communities and within broader white British society. Whilst the existence of the LGBTQ+ South Asian community was often denied, there was a demand through self-expression to assert the right to exist, through outlets such as Club Kali.

Club Kali had a ‘protectionist policy’, maintaining a no-camera rule to ensure the privacy of attendees. This anonymity was important, given that many South Asian attendees were not out and identity protection was crucial. Club Kali also supported the transgender community and those in their transition process, providing guidance and material support. The space spoke not only to the celebration of South Asian queer culture but to the heartbreaking stories of so many who were unsafe because of their sexuality. For many queer Asians, Club Kali and the network it created was the only space they could turn to.

Club Kali was seen as a cultural practice, as well as a safe space, modelled as a progressive imitation of a South Asian home, which was led by queer women. The club night was central in addressing the male-dominated formation of bhangra in the 1980s and the ‘post-bhangra’ Asian underground of the 1990s. Club Kali served to challenge preconceptions that surrounded the Asian underground scene as largely male, through the pioneering work of South Asian queer women. The monthly events of Club Kali also allowed for expressions of queer desires in club nights that historically have been dominated by men.

Today, having gained global notoriety, Club Kali continues to be one of the biggest LGBTQ+ Asian music club nights, offering a combination of music styles, varying between Bollywood, bhangra, Arabic, R&B and dance classics with a South Asian twist.