RAW Taiko

RAW Taiko, founded in 1998 as Raging Asian Women Taiko Drummers, is an artist-run Toronto-based performing arts organization made up of East and Southeast Asian women and gender non-conforming drummers. We carry on the diasporic Taiko tradition that grew out of Asian American and Asian Canadian participation in gender and racial justice movements in the 60s and 70s. One of the few taiko drumming groups of its kind in the world, RAW Taiko exists as a critical response and challenge to both systemic and internalized oppressions. RAW Taiko plays large drums as creative resistance for social change, carving space for self-expression, education and community building.

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RAW Taiko has performed at a wide variety of events including Pride celebrations in Toronto and Buffalo NY, Harbourfront Music Garden, Muhtadi International Drumming Festival in Toronto and Tobago, Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts, and Toronto’s WinterCity Festival. RAW Taiko performs annually at labour union conventions, International Women’s Day events, art festivals, social justice events, and more.