Mekong Cultural Hub

The Local Gatherings program aims to expand the community of people engaged with the Meeting Point platform, and to give practitioners micro-grants to organise events in their local communities. So far through the previous Meeting Points, 38 gatherings have been organised, in 33 different towns and cities across 14 countries, reaching more than 600 community members.

We are now calling for proposals from people who want to host a gathering in 2025!

This year, a total of 9 people or groups will be selected to host a gathering, which can be in any format, and with any number of people – as long as it links to the 2025 Meeting Point theme – Building Bridges.

The gatherings will be going on in different places, but must all take place between September 26th and October 5th, 2025. By creating a network of multiple local gatherings happening in parallel, MCH aims to generate collective energy to feed into the Meeting Point and to create a sense of connection and solidarity between communities.

In order to facilitate more connection between local gathering hosts, their communities and the main Meeting Point program, MCH organizes a series of online exchanges for hosts in the months before their gatherings take place. These exchanges are guided by Local Gatherings Community Curator, Do Huu Chi (Vietnam), with support from the MCH team.

After completing their events, the 9 selected gathering hosts will attend the in-person Meeting Point in Vientiane, where they will give a creative presentation to the other delegates about learnings and outcomes from their gatherings. The Community Curator, Mr Chi, will support and guide the hosts to prepare for this sharing.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• Open call (Deadline: March 2nd 2025)
• Full Program description
• Application form : Download
• Q&A session : 13th February 2025
• Link to register for Q&A

Key Information:

• MCH is now seeking people to host a Local Gathering in their local community under the theme of “Building Bridges” as part of Meeting Point 2025 and participate in the in-person program in Vientiane, Laos (October 16–18, 2025)
• Artists, producers and community organizers in Asia interested are all encouraged to apply – we are looking for people with a commitment to art and social action
• Micro-grants of $500, $1,000 or $1,500 USD are available to support hosts to organise the gatherings
• Hosts will get the chance to expand their networks and learn from peers via the online exchange program
• MCH will cover all costs for one representative per gathering to attend the Meeting Point in-person Vientiane in October 2025.
• Hosts must be a citizen of an Asian country
• Hosts must commit to be available for all program dates

Do Huu Chi is a Vietnamese artist, writer and facilitator based in Ho Chi Minh City. He has a Bachelor degree in Architecture and MFA in Sequential Art. His work ranges widely from book making to house design to connecting people through creative workshops. Recently, he also began to perform and help building a small community for stand-up comedy, one of the first playgrounds for this art form in Vietnam.