This article has been written, pondered and collated across multiple geographies – from India to Scotland and England – and from diverse experiences of migration, travel and belonging. A piece, titled Unbound, inspired by the River Yamuna was created by Surbhi Mittal and performed by Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra (GIO) and International Contemporary Ensemble at GlOfest XVI in November 2024, CCA Glasgow, and in Delhi with Synth Ensemble, February 2025.
We will outline the processes of collaboration which informed Surbhi’s creation of Unbound. By sharing a detailed account of how this piece was created and performed, we offer practice-based insight into the intersecting fields of improvisation, gender studies and socio-technologies. We draw on feminist creative practices which have improvisation as a central process (e.g. Krekels, 2019) as well as gender and identity expression with and through technology (e.g. Russell, 2020). The potential of telematic collaboration as an emancipatory practice, particularly for marginalised groups, will be also discussed (e.g. Sappho, 2022).