Thomas Burckhalter is an ethnologist, ethnomusicologist, audiovisual artist and music journalist from Bern. He is the founder and director of international platform Norient – Performing Music Research (norient.com), co-director of various documentary films (such as "Contradict", 2020, Bern Film Prize) and of audiovisual, theatre and dance performances, as well as an author and co-editor of various books. He is currently working on a new music project and the podcast series "South Asian Sound Stories" and "Timezones".