The Citizens of In-Betweens
Curated Conferences 2025
The Citizens of In-Betweens
The world is connected and divided in countless ways. There are gaps in disciplines, workplaces, politics, economics, and culture and there are people who navigate between them.
In a culturally segmented society with worsening economic opportunities, the new millennium gave birth to the tribe of slashers who removed themselves to that “one single purpose” in order to navigate multiple landscapes and ways of the world – by force or picking, for survival to curiosity.
We are looking to explore the two distinct discussion points – first, practice as the bridge of different work and worlds, and second, the individual as the living bridge connecting the fractured. We offer the space to creative practitioners and people working along-side them for their ability to change, shift, and find ways to adapt.
The Citizens of In-Betweens conference will attempt to consider the challenges of the multi- and inter-disciplinarian and explore the possibilities of this tribe’s unique contribution towards building the “good” in this world.
Discussion questions will include:
- What are the challenges working on different fields/landscapes?
- Is doing half the work amount to contributing to half the purpose?
- How are practitioners able to sustain working in two fields or more?
- How does one balance commitment and freedom?
- What are the advantages of multi- and inter-disciplinarians in a fragmented world?
- What is the future of social and development work?
- Are specialists and one-track minds doomed?
- Will the future wear two hats?
CURATOR
Andrei Venal is a communicator, artist, educator, and activist based in Manila, Philippines. Currently, he is the Strategy and Innovations Director of a national membership organization, DAKILA- Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism. In the last 15 years, Andrei has been studying and working on creative design and communications, organizational strategy and innovations, and cultural work focused on changing narratives and social behaviours. Andrei is a fellow of Salzburg Global Seminar and also an advocate for peasant, food, and land rights.
Curated Conferences
The Curated Conference program is part of Meeting Point. The next Meeting Point will take place in October 2025, with an in-person gathering in Vientiane from October 16-18. The aim of this program is to create space for diverse practitioners working in or closely with art and culture to discuss and explore topics that concern them, and to be able to share the outcomes of their discussions with a wider public audience. There are two topics for this year’s conference program, Economic Empowerment through Creative Work, curated by Sasiwimon Wongjarin (Aom), Studio 88 (Thailand), and The Citizens of In-Betweens, curated by Andrei Venal, DAKILA (Philippines). Each group will includes 4-6 Fellows, who expressed interest in exploring these themes. From February until July 2025, the Fellows meet online approximately once per month, for a series of conversations facilitated by their Curator, starting from the prompt statement shared in the program overview, and evolving with the inputs of the group. During August and September 2025, the Fellows and their Curator will focus on preparing the content and format for the public sharing sessions they will host during the Meeting Point on Art & Social Action in October 2025.