King Khan: »Rat-Tribution Now«

King Khan’s Commissioned Work »Rat-Tribution Now« is based on a tale told to him by his North Indian father. King Khan, born Arish Ahmad Khan, dedicated a short story inspired by it »to the only rat eater I have ever loved,« referring to the American painter Joe Coleman and his infamous spoken word performance in the 1988 movie »Mondo New York,« which involved live rats. Together Coleman and Khan performed the piece in New York City on Halloween 2019, when King Khan was canonised by Coleman and made into one of his art pieces. Parts of this stunning portrait will be animated in »Rat-Tribution Now.« King Khan recruited his daughter Saba Lou, also an established visual artist and songstress, to help tell the tale. The musical part involves King Khan revisiting his Indian heritage in the form of a »Rat-Eaters Raga,« a contribution from American punk rock legends Dead Moon, and a hypnotic narration by the »Infamous Rat Eater« Joe Coleman himself. Both ambitious in scale and captivating as every lysergic film experiment should be, »Rat-Tribution Now« deals with the nefarious origins of the goddess Kali, exposing the poverty stricken community of the Musahar (»Rat Eaters«) people of Northern India and supernatural feminist empowerment. It is dedicated to the memory of the thousands of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls of Canada.

This project is part of the culture program related to Canada’s Guest of Honour presentation at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2020/2021 and is supported by FACTOR Canada and the Government of Canada.


»Rat-Tribution Now« (Illustration: Saba Lou Khan)
»Rat-Tribution Now« (Illustration: Saba Lou Khan)

King Khan: »Rat-Tribution Now«

Title
“RAT-TRIBUTION NOW
The Nefarious Origins of the Goddess Kali”

based on
Tail of The Rat Eaters by A. A. Khan
Illustrator
Saba Lou Khan
Narrator
Joe Coleman
Directors & Producers
King Khan & Saba Lou Khan
Editor
Dominik Mader
Animator
Dominik Mader
Music Superviser & Sound Designer
A. A. Khan
Sound Engineer
Nene Baratto & Matt Clarke

Song
King Khan, Martin Wenk, John Convertino – (White Nile) Flows Through Memphis
published by Rough Trade Publishing
Performance
King Khan, Martin Wenk, John Convertino
Music by
A. A. Khan

Song
King Khan – Rat Eater Raga
published by Rough Trade Publishing
Performance
King Khan
Music by
A. A. Khan

Song
Dead Moon – Dead Moon Night
published by Dead Moon Music
Performance
Dead Moon
Lyrics
Fred Cole

Song
Saba Lou Khan – She is the Keeper of my Soul
published by Rough Trade Publishing
Performance
Saba Lou Khan
Lyrics
A. A. Khan

Inspiration of their Art
Joe Coleman & Molly Crabapple
Inspiration of their Music and Activism
Buffy Saint Marie & Tanya Tagaq
 
 
Editor
Katharina Tress
Audio Engineer, Recordist, Mixer
MEZ/ Ralf Metzler
Re-Recording Mixer
Cornelius Rapp
Visual Identity, Art Direction, Design
fertig design GbR