SEAΔ 3: Exchange – Create – Share – Reflect
From MCH: SEAΔ is designed as a program for creative practitioners ready to take the lead on how arts and culture contribute to sustainable development in South-East Asia. In this third season of SEAΔ, we are happy to bring art and cultural practitioners from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and the United Kingdom to work together under the theme of Bio-Trade.
During the program, the SEAΔ Fellows will collaborate with each other over 4 stages:
- exchange ideas and experience;
- create on-the-ground research and collaboration related to elements of the Helvetas bio-trade project;
- share the results and learnings of that research and collaboration to the public;
- reflect on the experience
In the Create Session, SEAΔ Fellows are grouped into 3 groups and work closely with three Project Managers from Helvetas – an independent Swiss development organization that is building capacity in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe to develop their projects in three countries: Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
The group working in Laos includes: Khin Thethtar Latt (Nora) – a multimedia artist based in Yangon; Soran Sorn – a a storyteller lives in Phnom Penh, Tassakorn Seepuan (Jump) – a multidisciplinary artist base in Chiang Mai and Nan, and their partner, the country manager Sisavan Phimmasan from Helvetas Laos. Their project focuses on Luangprabang province (northern province) Lao PDR where small communities gather Benzoin resin – a vanilla scented resin used widely in fragrances and flavors which is mostly grown in the mountainous regions of Laos – to supplement their income.
The group working in Myanmar includes: Regina Yuching Lin – an independent research-based translator, writer and curator based in Taipei; Nguyễn Tân Khiêm – an event coordinator in Hochiminh City; Mohd Jayzuan, a Malaysian multi-disciplinary artist based in Ipoh and Jakarta; and their partner, the country manager, Zaw from Helvetas Myanmar. Their project concerns the livelihoods of people in northern Myanmar with their agriculture practices of thanaka.
The group working in Vietnam includes: Raslene – a video and visual artist, researcher, and sometimes writing as a content contributor based in Jakarta, Lola Lely – an artist, designer and maker based in Hackney, East London, and Bin Kiphavong (Bill) – an art manager with a background of law in Luang Prabang, and their partner, the country manager, Nguyễn Diệu Chi from Helvetas Vietnam. They are developing a project working with the Tày minority in the northern mountain of Vietnam and their tea farming and tea making culture.
Different from the first two seasons, SEAΔ 2020-21 is organized completely online. By bringing people from different cultures and backgrounds together, SEAΔ not only gives each participant a chance to enrich their knowledge and network within the regional and international context but also create a collaboration between culture and arts practitioners and sustainable development professionals.
Follow our next posts to discover what each SEAΔ group up to for their creation!