|
Dear Friend,
As political unrest and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continue to threaten artistic freedom across South, Southeast, and East Asia, artist-activists are increasingly vulnerable to censorship, threats, and persecution in their countries. The humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in Afghanistan has also sent thousands seeking aid to countries across the world including Indonesia and India. These political upheavals across the region have led to an urgent need for solidarity and safe spaces where artists can share their stories and advocate for the social justice movements in their communities and countries.
That’s why today, PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), in partnership with the Mekong Cultural Hub (MCH) and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), is releasing Creating Artistic Resilience: Voices of Asia, a limited-run podcast featuring five artists and cultural rights defenders from Myanmar, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh, who share their experiences of artistic freedom, activism, resilience, and resistance in the face of repression.
|
|
|
Prompted by the findings from a closed virtual workshop convened in December 2020 as well as those captured in ARC's publication Arresting Art: Repression, Censorship, and Artistic Freedom in Asia, Creating Artistic Resilience features conversations between ARC’s Asia Regional Representative, Manojna Yeluri, and cultural rights defenders such as a Myanmar visual artist using the pseudonym Spring, Hong Kong activist and visual artist Kacey Wong, Filipino artist rights collective DAKILA, Malaysian political graphic artist Fahmi Reza, and Bangladeshi artist Sofia Karim.
|
|
|
“Diaspora solidarity is essential, and frankly, there’s just not enough of it. What’s happening in India and Bangladesh is absolutely terrifying. We’re now at a precipice. If this is where we are now, and the trajectory continues, then the consequences are imponderable.”
— Sofia Karim, UK-based Bangladeshi artist and activist,
creator of the Turbine Bagh Art Movement
|
|
|
Shared in the spirit of solidarity, these conversations with artists and cultural rights defenders in the region provide an invaluable glimpse into the individual and collective challenges currently faced by the creative community in Asia. We hope that Creating Artistic Resilience provides insights and tools for the artistic community at large, while also serving as a powerful reminder that artists at risk are not alone.
We hope you’ll listen to the podcast, share these conversations and findings with your communities, and join us in shining a light on the resilience and courage of at-risk artists in Asia.
Sincerely,
|
|
|
Julie Trebault
Director, Artists at Risk Connection (ARC)
PEN America
|
|
Manojna Yeluri
ARC Asia Regional Representative
PEN America
|
|
The Spring Revolution: Myanmar
Spring, a multimedia artist and activist from Myanmar, describes her daily life amidst the ongoing protests unfolding in the country. She draws attention to the ways in which the military coup of February 2021 poses severe security risks and impacts the future of citizens, human rights defenders, and the artistic community at large in Myanmar. Listen ››
|
|
|
|
This podcast would not have been possible without the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. ARC, MCH, and FORUM-ASIA also extend our gratitude to India-based producer Kunal Wadhwa for his editing and to Mai Khôi and Hamed Sinno for allowing us to use their song, "Antibodies."
|
|
|
Get More News, Events, and Original Literature from PEN America ›
|
|
|
|
