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Trade Routes/Converging Cultures: Southeast Asian and Asian American Women

Submitted by Angel Shaw

OVERVIEW PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

TRADE ROUTES/ CONVERGING CULTURES: SOUTHEAST ASIAN AND ASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN will be a series of specific projects involving inter-regional, inter-country, and international cross cultural collaborations and exchanges. In each of these projects, there will be at least one or more artists from a Southeast Asian country collaborating with an Asian American or vice-versa. Completion dates for each project range from three months to a year. The Project components consist of individual and collaborative artists’ residencies, dialogue forums, documentary videos, youth workshops, grass root initiatives, and exhibitions. A mixture of these venues will take place in selected cities and nearby communities in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and New York City.

The Project is process-oriented. It is designed to provide opportunities for a selection of women to break through systemic barriers in which their creative processes, social struggles, and cultural concerns can be shared and showcased. The participants will consist of media artists working in video, film, new media, and media installation; performance artists; visual artists working in painting, photography, sculpture, and mixed media; academic scholars; and grassroots community workers.

PROJECT TOPICS:

Supported by a three month Asian Cultural Council Research and Development Humanities Fellowship (Summer 2006), I was able to establish a network comprised mainly of women artists, curators, cultural and educational institutions, and grass roots
community organizations within the Southeast Asian region—Indonesia: Bali, Bandung, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta; Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur; the Philippines: Baguio City and Manila (so far); Thailand: Bangkok and Chiang Mai; and Singapore.
In my R&D findings, I discovered that there was an urgent need for the generations to connect, develop and further mentorship, and to draw out “a convergence of eastern and western cultures” in which a contemporary regional aesthetic is developing as well as within their own respective countries. Many of the cultural practitioners, expressed a desire to connect with cultural practitioners living in the U.S., because they wanted to know what Asian American experiences were and what kind of art they could collaboratively produce through cultural exchanges. The most consistent concern they expressed had to do with a complex multi-layered state of “identity crisis.”
The project topics listed below grew out of a continuum of interests as an American born Filipina video/film maker, curator, educator, and cultural activist who seeks to unite rather than divide artistic, social, political and cultural practices.
Demystifying Southeast Asian and Asian American perceptions of each other within narrowly defined spaces;
Explore concerns about stereotyping experiences and the Islamic practices of Southeast Asian Muslim women in relationship to Middle Eastern practices;

Examination of critical debates between cultural preservation and contemporary art practices;

The representation of women's issues within Animist, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim contexts;

Asian Diasporic Identity Politics as experienced in Southeast Asia and the United States – within contexts of nationalism, situational identity crises in and across generations, indigenous peoples, regions, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and ethnicity.

PROJECT AIMS & OBJECTIVES:

Historically, through transmigration and transnational experiences come various forms of artistic expression, new community formations, and an evolution of cultural empower-ment. The examination of historical, present day commonalities, and dissimilarities within local and global cultural exchange can lead us towards a greater understanding as to how to strengthen human relations and cultural practices mutually undertaken by Asian/American and non-Asian cultural practitioners.
To reflect the evolving creative and critical thought processes of the participants as they meet the challenges of the 21st century in converging and in some cases, historically conflicting countries.

To critically examine how cultural practitioners negotiate cultural disparities-- economic and cultural dependency, false notions of creative inferiority, and cultural bankruptcy within Southeast Asia and Asia America.

To discuss concepts and put forth representations of what it may mean to be Asian, Southeast, and American Asian women.

To mentor the next generation through creative workshops with artists-in- residencies towards helping them understand the core values of process-oriented practices to achieve empowerment, and to engage in artistic endeavors.

To utilize grass roots practices as a means to move forward in artistic and social arenas—cultural trade routes through transmigration (e.g. Southeast Asian/Asian American Diaspora)

To sustain inter-regional and cross-cultural relationships through artistic practices between Asians living in America and Southeast Asia.

I am applying to the Arts Network Asia for $10,000 USD. The funds will be used for the Pilot Project participants’ research and development phases and for implementation of the project components in the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. Funding for the same project activities in the United States will be sought elsewhere.

PILOT PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Philippine national artist, Brenda Fajardo, a painter, educator, and community activist’s proposal, WOMAN AS (MYTHICAL) HERO, was solicited for the Pilot Project. The concept was inspired by the classic Hindu epic poem, The Ramayana, specifically by the character of Sita whose representation is often placed at the periphery, along the margins of this widely known narrative in Southeast Asia, yet little known in the Philippines and in the United States.

In individual and collaborative processes, Ms. Fajardo, the Project Manager and three additional artists will produce the Pilot Project. They are: 1) Arahmaini (Indonesia): performance and multimedia artist, and community activist; 2) Kai Syng Tan (Singapore): filmmaker, installation artist, and educator; and 3) Yong Soon Min (Korean American): installation and multimedia artist, educator, and community activist. As the overall Project Director, I will be overseeing the entire project and working with the artists towards meeting the objectives they would like to achieve.

The project focuses on women as (mythical) hero. Investigations into Sita’s role and her significance in The Ramayana will serve as the departure point from which these artists will explore “woman as myth” (how women are perceived culturally) and as “hero” (how women actually live heroic lives). Central questions posed to the artist, variety of collaborators, other possible participants, and audiences are—Who do they consider to be their equivalent legendary “Sita,” and in everyday life in their respective countries? How are these women culturally, socially, politically perceived, and represented? How can they function in different contexts—locally, nationally, and internationally as multidimensional symbols and as actual human beings?

PILOT PROJECT STRUCTURE AND IMPLEMENTATION

WOMAN AS A (MYTHICAL) HERO will be broken into six phases with overlapping components. Prior to the formal beginning of Phase 1, each artist will be asked to think about how they would like to bring themselves to the project-- utilizing their own cultural practices, knowledge base, and experiences in their home countries in relationship to the pilot project concept, overall Project topics and objectives. It will take approximately five months to execute, however, these months may not necessarily be consecutive due to the participants’ schedules, in which case “Phase IV: Studio Work” may fan out over a period of time. The target date for completion is March 2008, coinciding with International Women’s Month.

*** Throughout all phases, the Project Director and participants will be in email or telephone correspondence about the evolution of project ideas, process, and execution. The Project Director will meet with, as well as correspond with the Project Advisory Committee and the collaborating organizations***

COMPONENTS FOR PROJECT PHASES

Documentary Video: Kai Syng Tan will be documenting the Pilot Project process, incorporating aspects of it into a documentary piece based on her own vision/interpretation of woman as a (mythical) hero. She will be working on her video in all phases of the project. Her finished documentary will be included in the various exhibitions as well as in individual screenings when possible.

Artist Residencies: Through the leadership of Brenda Fajardo, the participants will decide on how they feel they can best utilize their residency time—working individually, together or both. Time will be set aside each day for them to converse amongst each other and within the community they are hosted in during the duration of the residency.

The participants will have the opportunity to be in a two to four week residency in each participant’s home country, depending on the nature of what they would like to achieve in each place and funding for them. During this time, the participants will have the option of conducting a youth workshop with a fixed number of

women in conjunction with developing and/or moving their individual and collaborative efforts forward. They may also choose to invite members of various communities into the residency space to engage with them—sharing their creative process as well as dialogue about the project topics. Such exchanges will be documented on video.

Negotiations for residency spaces and the nature of support for the participants are already under way.

Dialogue Forums: Some of these dialogues will be informal, formal, and impromptu. They will be part of a specific venue/s (e.g. conversations with community members—artists, arts appreciators, youth, grass roots organizations, curators, and critics). These forums are meant to stress the importance of interaction between cultural producers, organizations, and general audiences as ways to share knowledge, experiences, and topical concerns.

Youth Workshops: see Artist Residencies

Grass Roots Initiatives: These initiatives are an integral part of the Pilot Project objectives and components. They are related to and/or will be produced as a part of the workshops, residencies, dialogue forums, and exhibitions. These initiatives are intended to be informally and formally educational in nature, promote cultural appreciation, and promote audience outreach to diverse audiences.

Exhibitions: A variety of programs will be showcased within residency spaces, cultural and educational institutions, community centers, and other public spaces.
Preliminary discussions have taken place in participating Southeast Asian countries and in New York City. (See Appendix 1)

Publicity for all project endeavors will be made in the form of public announcements through media outlets (newspapers, magazines, flyers, radio, and alternative media), community bulletins, collaborating cultural and academic organizations, various web sites and word of mouth.

Phase I: Preparation Meetings

April 18, 2007: Meeting between Brenda Fajardo (Pilot Project Manager) and Angel Velasco Shaw (already in Manila) to continue the dialogue about project development and logistics for implementation. (Location: Manila, Philippines).

June 15-19, 2007 Brainstorming meeting with Brenda Fajardo, Yong Soon Min (will be in Manila), and Angel Velasco Shaw. (Location: Manila, Philippines).

September-November 2007: (coordinate participant schedules in this time frame)
Maximum Two Weeks: Preliminary project dialogues and introductory study

period on subject matter(s) with Brenda Fajardo, Yong Soon Min, Kai Syng Tan, and Angel Velasco Shaw (Location: Manila, Philippines)

Phase II: Yogyakarta, Indonesia
December 2007 through early January 2008

Phase III: Negros Occidental & Negro Oriental Philippines
December 19 2007 to early January 2008

Phase IV: STUDIO WORK
Artists work individually on their contributions to the various exhibition components of the project in their own countries during the breaks in residencies and to also work on what they may showcase in New York City.

Kai Syng Tan will continue to work on her documentary. Depending on funding and the schedules of the other participants, they may travel to Singapore to engage with Kai Syng during this phase.

Phase V: Los Angeles or New York City
Kai Syng Tan finishes documentary piece.

Phase Vl: Southeast Asian Venues - March 2008
New York Venues - 2009

PROJECT OUTCOMES:

Create new audiences and evoke multicultural and trans-cultural arts appreciation.

Demonstrate how art and cultural convergences amongst Asian/American participants, audiences, educational, social, cultural, government institutions, and
funding agencies can generate multiple forms of intervention that are necessary for social change—generating critical ways of thinking and further interactions/exchanges outside of the constructed identity box.

Create and/or add to Asian American & Southeast Asian arts/cultural archives.
Encourage other cultural practitioners, educational, and cultural institutions to continue the work pertinent to their own social and cultural concerns.

Empowerment of everyday people to see themselves as the makers of culture who can affect change alongside cultural practitioners.

Publications- catalogues, possible book series, an illustrated story book; web site, CD-COM, DVD’s, for formal and informal educational usage.