Revealing Contexts
Art & Social Action in Asia
Meeting Point, May 20-22
Revealing Contexts: A Meeting Point on Art & Social Action in Asia was a collaborative effort of Mekong Cultural Hub, in partnership with Asia Arts Management (AAM). It created a space for people to exchange ideas, experiences and best practices, get new inspiration and connections with potential partners to take their work forward. The program was originally planned to take place both online and onsite in May. However, many events were postponed due to COVID situation which gave us an opportunity to meet each other again in a mini-Meeting Point in July.
The Meeting Point took place over 4 days, in collaboration with 14 partner organisations, and the participation of 98 people as speakers, facilitators, curators, artists, moderators, organisers. 388 people from 25 countries registered to join the online program. Please scroll down the page to explore the program’s details.
South-East Asia’s arts media platform, Arts Equator, produced 5 articles and 1 podcast about the various Meeting Point programs.
Meeting PointConnecting local dialoques at a regional level via an online platform. Asia-Asia
ConnectionsFinding common points and initiating joint actions.
Agenda
(All Times UTC +7)
| TIME | Co-hosted by MCH and TAEF |
| 12:50 – 13:00 | Revealing Contexts: South East Asia in Taiwan – OPENING ADDRESS Join HERE |
| 13:00 – 14:10 | Revealing Contexts Roundtable: “The Future of Art and Social Action in Post-Pandemic Asia” PART 1: Panelist Presentations Join HERE |
| 14:10 – 14:30 | BREAK Screening: BANGSOKOL: A REQUIEM FOR CAMBODIA Provided by: Cambodian Living Arts Join HERE |
| 14:30 – 15:20 | Revealing Contexts Roundtable: “The Future of Art and Social Action in Post-Pandemic Asia” PART 2: Open discussion and audience Q&A Join HERE |
| NOTE: Detailed information about the on-site program is available in English and Chinese | |
|---|---|
| TIME | ROOM 1 | ROOM 2 | ROOM 3 |
| 11:30 – 12:45 | Collective Action |
EAt / EAst / rEvEAl with TRAN Luong | Sign-up your name HERE |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | Curated conference: Artistic Action in Practice in the Mekong Region Join HERE | Case study workshop*: Peace Poetry Recitation Festival, Myanmar | |
| 14:45 – 16:15 | Curated conference: Thoughts on Art in Society Join HERE |
Case study workshop*: Klongtoey D-Jung, Thailand | Case study workshop*: Summer Video Program, Laos |
| 16:30 – 18:00 | Curated conference: In the Wake of COVID – altered contexts and prospects for the arts in Asia for the arts in Asia Join HERE |
Case study workshop*: Think Playgrounds, Vietnam | Arts for Good and Social Change Amid A Global Pandemic: How Are We Responding in Asia?– Singapore International Foundation Join HERE |
| 18:00 – 18:30 Film screening from Meeting Point’s participants |
1. “Disappearing Island”2020臺北藝術節 FOCA福爾摩沙馬戲團《消逝之島》” –
4 mins 47 secs – Provided by: Formosa Circus Art (FOCA) 2. BANGSOKOL: A REQUIEM FOR CAMBODIA – 2mins 45secs – Provided by: Cambodian Living Arts 3. “Drawing Together: Transnational Perspective on the International Collaboration of Culture” – about 15 mins – Provided by: Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation | WATCH HERE | Ongoing throughout Day 2: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13:00 – 17:00 | International cultural mobility and funding – Ask your question(s)! – one-to-one appointments are available with On the Move, (registration essential) | ||
| EAt / EAst / rEvEAl Collective action, will stay open all day, please Sign-up your name to join in any time! | |||
| * You need yo pre-register to join these sessions | |||
| TIME | ROOM 1 | ROOM 2 | ROOM 3 |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | Curated conference: Artistic Action in Practice in the Mekong Region Join HERE |
Case study workshop*: Peace Poetry Recitation Festival, Myanmar | |
| 14:45 – 16:15 | Curated conference: Thoughts on Art in Society Join HERE |
Case study workshop*: Klongtoey D-Jung, Thailand | Case study workshop*: Summer Video Program, Laos |
| 16:30 – 18:00 | Curated conference: In the Wake of COVID – altered contexts and prospects for the arts in Asia for the arts in Asia Join HERE |
Case study workshop*: Think Playgrounds, Vietnam | Am I at Risk? – Safety Guide and Training for Artists
– ARC (Artists at Risk Connection) Join HERE |
| 18:00 – 18:30 Film screening from Meeting Point’s participants |
1. “Shampoo” project – 12 mins 24 secs – Provided by: Thinkers’ Studio 2. 100 Projectors “Projector Fighters Fight for Democracy” – 16 mins 57 secs – Provided by: Cranes | WATCH HERE |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:30 – 19:30 Open Space by Meeting Point participants |
How artistic response have impact in community during the crisis time* by Crane (Myanmar) Sign-up your name to join the discussion HERE |
What Is- What Might- What If Session by Sudebi Thakurata and Probal Banerjee and their associates (India) Join HERE |
Arts, Society & Creativity in Osaka, Japan by Prof. Nakagawa Shin(Japan) Join HERE | Ongoing throughout Day 3: |
| EAt / EAst / rEvEAl Collective action, will stay open all day, please Sign-up your name to join in any time! | |||
| * You need yo pre-register to join these sessions | |||
Virtual Meeting Point
Revealing Contexts Roundtable:
The Future of Art and Social Action in Post-Pandemic Asia
Co-hosted by MCH and TAEF (Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation)
Location: online in Zoom
Language: English and Chinese
Times
OPENING ADDRESS: 12:50 – 13:00
Revealing Contexts Roundtable Part 1: 13:00-14:10
BREAK (including screening): 14:10-14:30
Revealing Contexts Roundtable Part 2: 14:30-15:20
For more information about the extended on-site program in Taipei, which also includes talks and a performance-workshop: Click Here (ENGLISH) or Click Here (CHINESE)
About the Revealing Contexts Roundtable: Although the current global pandemic has hindered international cooperation and interpersonal connection, this new bordered world has exposed some of the long-standing issues that we tend to eschew and fail to engage in the past, ranging from the exacerbation of social inequality, the growth of precarious communities, to the decline of press freedom and independent media. While the stories of how medical personnel devoted themselves to controlling the disease have been foregrounded in the public sphere, little attention has been paid to how art and social practices continue to foster social bonding in a time of social distancing.
To open the Meeting Point, MCH and TAEF (Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation) are co-hosting a roundtable, to set a foundation for ‘revealing contexts’ throughout the rest of the three-day program. The dialogue will be organized in two parts. In part one, invited speakers will take part in a moderated discussion on “The Future of Art and Social Action in Post-Pandemic Asia” to make contributions from their own artistic and cultural and academic standpoints. In part two, the floor will open to encourage questions, insights and critique from the audience, in conversation with each other and with the panelists.
During the break there will be a screening of Variations on Bangsokol, commissioned in December 2020 as part the Arts & Healing Festival by Cambodian Living Arts, responding to the pandemic context of 2020.
MODERATOR
PANELISTS
To “confer” means to consult together, to deliberate and exchange opinions. Through the Curated Conferences program, MCH wanted to honor the concept behind conferencing, and create an opportunity for three small groups to come together, to consult each other on a certain topic, to exchange ideas and finally to transmit their exchanges to a wider audience.
Working with three Curators, we selected three topics to be explored and opened a call for participation. We selected a diverse group of participants from different Asian countries, all with different personal and professional backgrounds – but with a shared interest in their topic to be conferred on. These groups have been meeting every few weeks since e November 2020, guided by their Curator. The creative programs you see below are the ideas that the group wanted to share and explore further via this Meeting Point. We hope you enjoy them!
When the discussion series has drawn towards the close, one of our fellows is in exile due to his long standing up for human rights, while the other is on the road to help out the voiceless by advocating legal justice. In the meantime, one fellow is standing at the frontline of the pro-democracy movement being at the risk of arrest.
Over the past months, in the Mekong region, waves of pandemics have reinforced restrictions on free expressions and moves. Large-scale oppressions have led to devastating impacts. How we keep our faith and hope in social and political changes, and how we express our will by employing artistic and cultural tactics to make changes, have been the key subject of each discussion session.
It did not take long for all fellows to nail down a collective project that resonates with the current regional crisis. The diverse artistic backgrounds of them have contributed to an effective programme, which is pledged as an artistic movement to provide a space for re-narrating regional histories and routes to navigate the challenges of censorship.
As a result, a compilation of image poetry, documentary short films, and a community photo gallery will be presented online followed by a real-time panel discussion. The program attempts to encapsulate some urgent issues in the Mekong region and to generate dialogues. The cross-border cooperative production when travel bans are forced also unveils the fellows’ resolution of solidarity.
If you would like to join this conference, please click HERE. The conference is live, but takes place two times -once on May 21 and once on May 22 – so you have two chances to join!
CURATOR
CREATIVE INTERPRETER
PARTICIPANTS
The participants of this Curated Conference will be sharing their thoughts on art in society in Asia, based on a series of exchanges and discussions around their respective contexts. Everyone pre-registering for the session will be sent some statements and reflections drafted by the participants. During the program, they will share insights behind the statements they have made, alongside a graphic interpretation/response by illustrator Charis Loke. Attendees in this session will select statements or aspects of the illustration to respond to, comment on, question, or challenge. This is a conversation amongst all present, like a collective sense-making of such practices in this region. The session will be moderated by Sunitha Janamohanan.
If you would like to join this conference, please click HERE. The conference is live, but takes place two times -once on May 21 and once on May 22 – so you have two chances to join!
PARTICIPANTS
This presentation will provide an imaginative representation of the many conversations that the Curated Conference encompassed. An outline of the conference’s key talking points will be followed by a creative introduction to the four participants, capturing what they revealed about themselves and the effect of COVID-19 on their lives—their new learning and discoveries, lingering concerns and shifts in perspective and practice. Each participant will then present a project, exploring questions, ideas or experiences that were voiced during the meetings. The projects will take the following diverse forms:
- Letters to COVID, thanking the global virus for the gifts, poisoned or otherwise, it has lavished on Singapore.
- A video of conversations with artists in Malaysia on their self-discoveries, learnings and course corrections during the pandemic.
- A performance depicting how we show and hide ourselves in the digital windows through which we meet the world.
- A curated walk through an exhibition of masks, mounted in the distant future, conjecturing on the stories the masks tell.
- The session will conclude with an interaction with the audience.
If you would like to join this conference, please click HERE. The conference is live, but takes place two times -once on May 21 and once on May 22 – so you have two chances to join!
CURATOR
CREATIVE INTERPRETER
PARTICIPANTS
In 2018, MCH conducted a mapping exercise among cultural practitioners in the Mekong Region who were interested in regional exchange and collaboration. The research revealed a strong interest among artists and creative practitioners to do work that has a positive impact in society. On average, people’s work in the arts is engaging with five or more social issues, with popular areas of concern being identity, gender, inclusion and environment. But how easy is it to find out about the work happening on the ground? Where can we find examples of great projects that reveal the context and the ways of working on art and social action in the Mekong Region?
To address this lack, MCH and AAM, with support of Japan Foundation, have commissioned five written case studies about art and social action; one each from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. These cases highlight examples of context-specific, locally-driven initiatives, which have survived and flourished over a period of time. Four of the reports are already available to read online.
During the Meeting Point, we are presenting 4 interactive workshops, using the case studies as a practical example for exploring methodologies and approaches that have led to the success of these initiatives, and investigating lessons learnt from the experiences of the project leaders. Each workshop will be run two times, once on May 21 and once on May 22.
The workshop will be facilitated by an MCH Fellow from the country of the case, supported by a Representative from the case, and the Researcher who investigated and produced the study. After a short recap of the case, the Facilitator will guide participants to discuss the case study, and share their own questions and experiences in relation to the issues it raises.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- These sessions are limited to 15 participants per workshop
- Registration for these sessions closes on May 13th
- To register you must ensure you complete the registration form and answer specific questions to support your participation
- You will hear from us on May 14th to confirm if you have a place
- If we receive more requests for participation than there are places available, we will prioritise those who we believe can learn most from joining the discussion. If there is a high demand for these workshops, we may arrange more in future
- The workshop will be conducted in English
- Before joining the workshop, you must have read the case study carefully
CASE STUDIES CONSULTANTS
CASE STUDIES WORKSHOPS
Peace Poetry Recitation Festival: Peace in Myanmar with Poetry
The Peace Poetry Festival is organised annually by volunteers since 2012; it aims to give a platform for poets to share their work, and to highlight poems on the theme of peace and conflict. Since 2016 the organisers have also introduced a poetry prize. The case study explores how this festival has been led over a long period of time using an informal structure and with commitment from volunteers. It looks at the organic growth of public interest in the festival, and how that links to promotion and marketing. The case study also addresses the current situation in Myanmar, how it is affecting poets and what role poetry can play.
Keywords: #communityfestival #literature&poetry #artandartistsinconflict #grassrootsorganization #powerofpoetry
Read the Case Study HERE
Registration for the session closed on May 13th.
Journey and Strategy of the Messenger Band: Case Study of Social Action through Singing
Messenger Band works towards social change using music, especially original pop songs, to educate and advocate about issues affecting vulnerable groups in Cambodian society. The case study looks at Messenger Band’s origins and their position as a project of an NGO in the social and human rights sector. It includes information about how the band uses music to achieve very specific social objectives, trains music advocacy as a tool in communities, and how the group has developed by participating in regional networks with other artists in the same field. It explores some of the factors that make the members and the work of the band precarious, as well as their strength in knowing deeply about the subjects that they perform about.
Keywords: #awarenessraising #musicadvocacy #developmentsector #artsandsociety #issuebased #nonartsnetworks#issuebased
This workshop has been temporarily POSTPONED. Anyone who registered should have received an update from us by email, but if not – please get in touch at info@mekongculturalhub.org
Nurturing “Intermediaries” through Music and Arts Management
This case study is about Klongtoey D-Jung, a community music project working with children in Bangkok’s largest slum. The case study covers how they raise funds to support the work, the design and evaluation of their programs, a detailed description of how they conduct music workshops – which is the major activity of their program-, how they manage and work with volunteers, and the impacts of the activities on the children, the volunteers and the wider community.
Keywords: #fanclub #localfundraising #volunteermanagement #lifeskillsthrougharts #musicworkshopdesign #bringingcommunitiestogether #partofthecommunity
Read the Case Study HERE
Registration for the session closed on May 13th.
Finding Voices Through Filmmaking: A Case Study of My Library, Luang Prabang, Laos
This case study looks at the ‘Five Week Filmmaking Class’ which has been run by My Library every year since 2012. The class works mainly with students, and teaches them technical aspects of making a film and most importantly allows them to express and create their own idea for a film. The case study shares detail about how this summer class is structured, looks at the impact of the class over time – including its relationship to the wider film sector in Laos – and shares their approaches to assessment and evaluation.
Keywords: #summerprogram #monitoringandevaluation #film #youngpeoplesvoices #curriculumdesign
Read the Case Study HERE
Registration for the session closed on May 13th.
Creating a Playable Hanoi: Think Playgrounds and its Projects
This case study focuses on Think Playgrounds, a social enterprise based in Hanoi, Vietnam. This entity started off with an initial objective to give children access to public playground at a time when families’ activities had increasingly withdrawn into the physical space of their home. The case study surveys their development over the years, highlighting their ability to mobilize resources from partnership as well as their transition from physical access to play to the conceptual value of play including the effort to claim public access to sites. The project started as a volunteer initiative and is now an established organization, which mixes commercial and non-profit activities to respond to the local context.
Keywords: #socialenterprise #buildingnetworks #workingwithcommunities #urbanplanning #innovation&learning #findtherightbusinessmodel
Read the Case Study HERE
Registration for the session closed on May 13th.
How can you experience an unfamiliar food from a foreign place when you cannot taste or smell it? Can you introduce a new friend to a favourite local dish of yours and get them to understand why you love it so much, when you cannot sit physically with them in your home or in the restaurant? Let’s find out!
Food is an essential aspect of our everyday lives. The behavior of “eating” and what we eat is a mirror that reflects the climate, the culture, and the local politics and economy of where we are based. It is a way we connect with friends and family, and a way we take care of ourselves when we are suffering and a way we celebrate meaningful occasions. When the world is divided by COVID-19, an act of sharing a local context online would be the energy of mutual understanding and encouragement to overcome daily difficulties.
From 11.30am – 12:45pm (UTC+7) on May 21st, Tran Luong invites you to drop in to our virtual dining room and chew, crunch and slurp online – while opening your eyes and ears and to sense the taste of your neighbours. We will have friends from more than 20 locations online, ready to share their local dishes with you – and we welcome more to come along! If you have a food that means something to you and you want to share it too, please REGISTER HERE to get ZOOM link to join our dining room.
If you don’t want to eat, please Follow us on @EAt.EAst.rEvEAl Facebook Page for updates.
LEAD ARTIST, CURATOR
COORDINATOR
Asia-Asia Connections
We are delighted to use the Meeting Point platform to connect partners who are also concerned with art and social action in Asia. Please check out the programs below, which offer a great range of opportunities to access information, resources and networks that can support practitioners working in the field.
International cultural mobility and funding – Ask your question(s)!
Organiser: On the Move
Time: 13:00 – 17:00 May 21
Register Now! / More Information
Cross-border travels are challenged since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. However many new or revisited mobility opportunities have mushroomed for the past year. Marie Le Sourd from the cultural mobility information network, On the Move, can help you to identify opportunities for you, your project and/or your organisation. Come with your question(s)!
Mobility of AIR – Action for the future
Organiser: TASA (Taiwan Arts Space Alliance)
Time: 13:00 – 16:45 May 22
Register Now! / More Information
From the close meeting move to the open for public, we invite the institutions or art Spaces that members of Taiwan Art Space Alliance, to have more in-depth discussions not only how the events and projects will be produced in different way this year, but also the cultural policy and administration need to change in the future.
Arts for Good and Social Change Amid A Global Pandemic: How Are We Responding in Asia?
Organiser: Singapore International Foundation (SIF)
Time: 16:30 – 18:00 May 21
Register Now! / More Information
It is no secret that COVID-19 has upended the world and disrupted previously-established modes of collaboration and interactivity. How has the pandemic changed the way arts companies and practitioners in Asia work with their communities? Join three of the Singapore International Foundation’s Arts for Good Fellows as they share their journeys in collaborating with local and global communities in this new normal.
Recording of the event is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdudZrbd3Pc
Am I at Risk? – Safety Guide and Training for Artists
Organiser: ARC (Artists at Risk Connection)
Time: 16:30 – 18:00 May 22
Register Now! / More Information
As we have seen in the past few years, art is a powerful medium to express dissent and revolution, but as a result it can often put its creator at risk. In this session, we will discuss the threats artists face in Asia, along with practical advice on how to prepare for and respond to them. Using ARC’s new “Safety Guide for Artists”, the session will cover topics such as patterns of persecution faced by artists in Asia, the rights and legal instruments commonly used to criminalize and threaten artists, and strategies to combat the risks posed to artists. By the end of this training, we hope that artists will have the necessary tools to craft a simple security plan as well as identify resources that can help provide further assistance when needed. The session will include a presentation by FORUM-ASIA about their work and resources available to artists at risk in Asia.
Local Gatherings
Once it became clear that this Meeting Point could not be fully in-person, MCH decided to adapt our plans. We wanted to find a way to preserve the spirit of physical togetherness, and to allow the opportunity for unexpected connections between people, and for new conversations to emerge out of the program. We shared a call for interest to our network of Fellows, to seek people who would be willing to host a physical gathering in their local community as an action of solidarity and community on the Meeting Point dates. We asked those interested to design their own program, making the Revealing Contexts theme relevant to their own community, and to commit to integrating some of the virtual Meeting Point program into their agenda. We didn’t know what response we would get – and were delighted with the positive response the diversity and creativity of the proposals. You can see the results below! Some of the gatherings are taking place on an invitation-only basis, and some are open for participation in-person or online.
Browse the list of Local Gatherings below and find out which one is near you!
Life Mapping by Yeung Chun Wai (Wilson), Liu Ye (Sherry)
Date: May 01, 07, 22
Location: Xuzhou, Melbourne
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Open
Registration: No
Longyu Garden Community residents will be invited to have a field revisting (Xuzhou, China) and use art rubbing and embroidery techniques to create an art mapping. Then, there will be a showcase at the real space in Xuzhou, China, and an online panel discussion.
More information: https://www.sherryyeliu.com/ or https://rcccuratorial.wixsite.com/
Life Mapping by Yeung Chun Wai (Wilson), Liu Ye (Sherry)
Date: May 01, 07, 22
Location: Xuzhou, Melbourne
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Open
Registration: No
Longyu Garden Community residents will be invited to have a field revisting (Xuzhou, China) and use art rubbing and embroidery techniques to create an art mapping. Then, there will be a showcase at the real space in Xuzhou, China, and an online panel discussion.
More information: https://www.sherryyeliu.com/ or https://rcccuratorial.wixsite.com/
What Is- What Might- What If by Sudebi Thakurata and Probal Banerjee from D.epicentre
Date: Postponed
Location: Bangalore, Other Cities
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Some sessions are open to the public – online
Registration: No
What does future competency and fluency mean in the arts and creative sectors? In a VUCA Pandemic affected world, how do creative practitioners hone the relevant skills? Can the creative economy be separated from social action? In this highly engaging, reflective, provocative, facilitated, immersive and dialogic set of workshops we would open up possibilities of people to reflect on their own experiences, identify where the gaps are and share perspectives around how collective action can be taken to be future-ready. The key narratives, learnings and findings would be co-created and disseminated with relevant people across many regions.
More information: CLICK HERE
What’s Up? What’s Next? Same Same Different! by Paramytha Gayatri Nadya (Nadya), Dyantini Adeline – Arie Kartikasari
Date: May 22
Location: Jakarta
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Closed event
Registration: Invitation only
“Same same different” it is a catchphrase, to answer “How are you?” when nothing new happen. As an art and culture praciticioner, digital era during pandemic makes us look the same. We watch films, On Screen. We watch concert and listen to music, On Screen. We watch theatre, or enjoy installation On screen. So what makes us same yet different? Does it apply to another forms of arts? We want to seek the difference, but what if in the end we are all just exhibit something same? So how, same yet different are we? We will discuss it with artists, programmer, curator, and art exhibitor how to bounce back.
Balai Warga: AKAP by Rifandi Nugroho Rifandi, Kelompok Kurator Kampung
Date: May 21-23
Location: Jakarta, South Tangerang, Jatiwangi, Semarang, Surabaya
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Open
Registration: No
Balai Warga: AKAP is an open platform for discussion, workshop and presentation held by KKK in various places. It attempts to open up meetings, dialogues, and learnings from many individuals, groups, and institutions that have experience working in the public space along with the elements of everyday life. Balai Warga: AKAP is expected to expand the ideas and context of socio-cultural work through a cross-disciplinary approach in the relationship between public spaces, urban& rural areas, as well as people involvement.
More information: Click HERE
Mother Bank-Tepung Taun by Muntaha Ismal Muntaha
Date: May 20
Location: Jatiwangi, Majalengka
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Open
Registration: No
Mother Bank, a mother collective in Kampung Wates, is organizing a cooking competition among them in Kampung Wates. The challenge is to cook any kind of food using the Mocaf (modified cassava) Flour, in which the cassava is planted itself by the mothers. The idea is to experiment and explores as much as can of food without using imported wheat flour. The events will be held in our own collective cassava field. We will collaborate with the Department of Food and Agriculture as a host.
More information: Click HERE
＜Dialogues with Mountains – Cultural lives Sharing of Bali and Taromak＞ by Kao Chieh, Juny Chiang, Mr. Fly, Aniek Puspawardani, Lravorase Lra-madaralrae
Date: Postponed
Location: Taipei, Bali Tabanan
Event Type: Online
Participation: Open
Registration: Required
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” Aniek and Li-Yuan, two significant local people from Bali and Taitung, will bring us to experience their unique cultural lives with mountains through sharing sessions and traditional craft-making workshops. On this day, we will learn more about the UNESCO World Heritage – Subak, and sustainable travel in Kelecung, Bali, Indonesia. What’s more, the distinctive tribal culture and mysterious aboriginal life in the mountains in Taromak, Taitung County, Taiwan, will be revealed to us.
More information: Click HERE
Arts, Society & Creativity in Osaka, Japan by AAM Osaka (Nakagawa Shin, UEDA Kanayo)
Date: May 22
Location: Cocoroom, Osaka City
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Partly open
Registration: Required
Presentation of Socially Engaged arts in Kansai Area by a few members of AAM (Asian Arts Management Team) and Making social poem lad by Kanayo Ueda. After then we will discuss how to survive or overcome COVID-19 situation which caused many difficulties to arts and culture. The site, cocoroom, is located in the poverty area of Osaka City and there are many socially inclusive arts activities around, so we would like to link or work together with them in order to make our local gathering significant.
Art & Social Action: Sapporo Gathering by Yachita Mio, Hitsujiya Shirotama
Date: Postponed
Location: Hokkaido (Sapporo)
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Some sessions are open to the public – in person only
Registration: Required
Sapporo Gathering is a small, casual gathering of people who are interested in the arts, culture of Asia, and social action through the arts. We gather around the cozy UNTAPPED HOSTEL to watch some of the main programs together, exchange our thoughts, and share our stories of our experiences with Southeast Asia.
Where Are We Meeting? by Lee Ren Xin, Rupa
Date: May 20-21
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Selangor
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Close event
Registration: Invitation only
Finding space for what she believes in art and social action, we’re meeting halfway. 80% of this session will be conducted non-verbally. Approaching our bodies and the land – to be alive, to join each other here. The by-invitation guest list are those holding space for others in various communities on this land. We wish to find this shared space, so we can stand in for each other. Moved by Ren Xin and painted by Rupa, in this space we will learn.
More information: Click HERE
Sidang-Sidang: Arts & Culture Conference by Abdul Rahman Shah (A.R. Shah), Projek Rabak, PORT
Date: May 21-22
Location: Ipoh
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Open
Registration: Required
‘Sidang-Sidang: Arts & Culture Conference’ is a hybrid (physical + online) conference organized by Projek Rabak and PORT that will be held on 21 and 22 May 2021. Due to the latest COVID-19 SOP concerns in Malaysia, the physical gathering will be limited to 15 participants, but all activities will also be streamed to Zoom for the online participants.
The hybrid conference will be fully conducted in the Malay language (unless stated). Our activities include a keynote speech on transnational social action (in English), a panel session on arts collective as an ecosystem, and a printmaking workshop. The conference will also participate in and screen selected ‘Revealing Contexts’ online plenary activities.
More information: Click HERE
Artistic response in crisis( 1000 cranes praying) by Tatine
Date: May 22
Location: Yangon (physical workshop), collaborate with ( Taunggyi, Bagan, Mandalay, Moe Kaung, Pha Ann, Monywa, Sittway, Pyay, Dawei, Bago)
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Close event
Registration: Invitation only
Through this project, I want to strengthen the unity of our local people where we are heading now for federal union. I also want to share the voices of them how they try to respond this crisis situation through artistic, creative and non-violence ways even we are under very risky and dangerous situation. And I want to share back to my people the voices of our international friends how they are trying to help us by responding with art. During the physical event, there will be a section of creating 1000 origami crane praying installation, sharing the video record of making origami cranes praying protest from different cities of Myanmar plus international communities and panel discussion section with all the representatives and some invited local and international guests about how artistic response have impact in community during the crisis time!
Ugyon sa Tipuron by Salvarita Razcel Jan
Date: May 20-21
Location: Lambunao, Iloilo
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Open
Registration: No
“Ugyon sa Tipuron” (Gather in the Circle) is a multi-layered event that will celebrate learning, sharing, and international creative exchange through the “Meeting Point”. The 3-day event will consist of capacity-building workshops, plenary sessions, and creative sessions with women farm folks, teachers, and local council leaders.
More information: visit Baryobalangaw.org or Facebook Page
＜Dialogues with Mountains – Cultural lives Sharing of Bali and Taromak＞ by Kao Chieh, Juny Chiang, Mr. Fly, Aniek Puspawardani, Lravorase Lra-madaralrae
Date: Postponed
Location: Taipei, Bali Tabanan
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Open
Registration: Required
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” Aniek and Li-Yuan, two significant local people from Bali and Taitung, will bring us to experience their unique cultural lives with mountains through sharing sessions and traditional craft-making workshops. On this day, we will learn more about the UNESCO World Heritage – Subak, and sustainable travel in Kelecung, Bali, Indonesia. What’s more, the distinctive tribal culture and mysterious aboriginal life in the mountains in Taromak, Taitung County, Taiwan, will be revealed to us.
More information: Click HERE
Planting Trees for Shades in the Future by Tsai Ming-Jiun
Date: Postponed
Location: Taipei
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Close event
Registration: Invitation Only
As a continuation of Arts of Coming Down to Earth by Stéphane Verlet-Bottéro, Margaret Shiu and Ming-Jiun Tsai for ‘Taipei Biennial 2020’. Planting Trees for Shades in the Future is a collaborative art action that intends to invite art practitioners and institutions to be partners taking actions for decreasing our carbon footprint in the art field in order to create a more sustainable environment in the future. The title is inspired by a proverb ‘One generation plants the trees, another gets the shade’, and the project is hosted by Ming-Jiun Tsai, with support from Margaret Shiu and Eva Lin from the art field as well as environmental engineers Vincent Chen and Huang Wei-Cheng.
More information: Click HERE
Myth, Legend, and History: Stories from Our Homes by The Garden of Hope Foundation, GOH-MIgrants, National Taiwan Museum, Research Assistant, Hsuwen (Emily) Yuan
Date: Postponed
Location: Taipei
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Close event
Registration: Invitation Only
Inviting students from South-East Asian countries in Taiwan to gather with Garden of Hope and National Taiwan Museum and have a light discussion session about culture and history from their home countries. The main purpose is to explore the growing experiences respectively, the differences between culture and tradition, their backgrounds, and how the education system plays a critical role in developing people’s way of thinking. Through this gathering we hope to reveal the context and raise awareness of cultural diversity.
More information: Click HERE
From Fear to Resilience: Arts and Activism by SEA Junction, Jirapathomsakul Lattapol
Date: Postponed
Location: Bangkok
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Open
Registration: No
The gathering will be hosted in the panel discussion style on 22 May 2021 at SEA Junction, 4th floor, BACC. It will highlight the resilience of artists toward themselves and society. In other words, it will reveal how artists have been hit hard by the pandemic and become resilient in creating their works during these challenging times, including how they have been touching on the COVID-19 issue through their works.
More information: CLICK HERE
The Living Room by Suksopha Monthatip
Date: Postponed
Location: Chiangmai
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Some sessions are open to the public – online
Registration: No
“The Living Room” is an exchange dialogue in the cozy and fun atmosphere between chiangmai based artists and Dhepsiri Creative Space address to their resilience under circumstance of COVID-19 and find the way how to work together in the future. The program will be divided into 3 small groups of different art form which will take casually about 3 hours each group including interaction/ demonstration/ excerpt from their work, etc. Each forum will consist of 8 – 12 participation excerpt during public program might be more people.
21st May 2021: Exchange dialogue between Film makers and alter movie programmers (specific) plus one film program ( open for public ).
22nd May 2021 : one session with performing art ( Drama / performance ) and another session with music networking >>> (** coordination still on process)
More information: CLICK HERE
Equity Starts at School : Reflecting on Critical Structural Issues and Inequality Reducing Method to Create an Efficient and Democratic Classroom by Seepuan Jump Tassakorn
Date: Postponed
Location: Nan
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Open
Registration: Required
This semi-seminar workshop will open an area for local habitants and educational experts to discuss and exchange attitudes toward inequality and critical structural issues in Thailand’s education system and also exploring a method to create an efficient and democratic classroom by an element of arts.
More information: CLICK HERE
Looking at Vietnam’s illicit wildlife trade through the lens of Arts by Nguyễn Thuỳ Dương, Lampard Ashley Jonarthan
Date: Postponed
Location: Hanoi, Other cities
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Open
Registration: Required
The gathering will be an art talk with an established wildlife artist Dao Van Hoang, journalists Ashley Lampard and Do Doan Hoang, they will share their works, their journeys, and what happening in Vietnam’s illicit wildlife trade. At the end of the talk will be Q&A between the speakers and the participants.
More information: Click HERE
Listen! The sound of artistic practice in the Mekong region by Hong Grace
Date: May 23
Location: New York City
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Close event
Registration: Invitation Only
Join a lively discussion with New York-based art professionals about artistic practice in the Mekong region. Taking the Virtual Meeting Point as a springboard, participants will listen in on selected sessions, then share their observations and personal experiences with each other, with the goal of finding new methods to deepen community outreach or facilitate socially-engaged art practices.
Looking at Vietnam’s illicit wildlife trade through the lens of Arts by Nguyễn Thuỳ Dương, Lampard Ashley Jonarthan
Date: Postponed
Location: Hanoi, Other cities
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Open
Registration: Required
The gathering will be an art talk with an established wildlife artist Dao Van Hoang, journalists Ashley Lampard and Do Doan Hoang, they will share their works, their journeys, and what happening in Vietnam’s illicit wildlife trade. At the end of the talk will be Q&A between the speakers and the participants.
More information: Click HERE
Edge of the Citadel by Mơ Đơ, Then Café, Be Café
Date: Postponed
Location: Huế
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Open
Registration: Required
The project revolves around the ruins left behind after the residential relocation and site clearance project of the Citadel’s relic system. The project spans two days. Day 1 includes a site-specific art exhibition, a tour of the artworks, a tour of the Citadel’s walls visiting relics and vegetable farms cultivated by the community that lived there. Day 2 is reserved for an artist talk and a panel discussion on the residential relocation and site clearance project, with panelists from different sectors, namely art and culture, architecture and urban planning, public policy, tourism, and history.
More information: Click HERE
A look into the future of Arts: Arts for Good is Arts for All by Vu Thi Thanh Binh (Thanh Binh), Vu Huong Chi (Huong Chi)
Date: May 22
Location: Hai Phong
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Some sessions are open to the public – online
Registration: Required
The conference “A look into the future of Arts: Arts for Good is Arts for All” will take place in Hai Phong, Vietnam on May 22nd, 2021 and it is a part of the event series Revealing Contexts: A Meeting Point on Art & Social Action in Asia, organized by Mekong Cultural Hub (MCH).
With the support from MCH we would like to invite you all to join a cozy gathering both in person and online to listen to the perspectives on socially-engaged Arts of our local artists in Hai Phong and the others around Asia.
More information: Click HERE
Art Biennale – Do we really need? by Heritage Space
Date: May 22
Location: Hanoi
Event Type: Both in person and online
Participation: Closed event
Registration: Invitation only
The gathering event will be a talk between local curators and artists who participated in both domestic and international big-scale art program. The topic is about discussing the role of Biennale and Art festival in multiple aspects to figure out the motivations to the development of culture and society. Guest speakers will give presentations on their perspectives, following by an open discussion with audiences. Event will be implemented in a cultural partner’s location and expected to reach 50 – 80 audiences.
More information: Click HERE
Cultivating a Creative Ecosystem in Vietnam’s Creative Industry by Barefoot Ventures
Date: Postponed
Location: Ho Chi Minh City
Event Type: In person only
Participation: Closed event
Registration: Invitation only
Barefoot Ventures proudly introduces our launching event — “Getting Our Feet Wet: Cultivating a Creative Ecosystem in Vietnam’s Creative Industry” on May 21st, at Fulbright University Vietnam. This event will be marked by a discussion panel touching on the current landscape in Vietnam including our cultural and creative industry, corporate social responsibility, and the relationship between creativity and business. Guests of the event will have many opportunities to expand their network and connect with Barefoot Ventures as a potential partner.
More information: Click HERE
Please note: Due to the current COVID situation, some Local Gatherings are postponed. Please follow us for updates.
