Call for Workshops: Asian Perspectives on Artistic Freedom
Safe Havens Meeting, December 2nd- 4th 2026
In December 2026, Living Arts International (Mekong Cultural Hub and Cambodian Living Arts) is partnering with SH|FT and ArtsEquator to organise the annual Safe Havens Meeting, which will take place in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
The theme for this year’s meeting is SEA Differently: An Asian Lens on Artistic Freedom. Our goal is to create space to expand the global conversation about what we mean when we talk about artistic freedom, particularly in the context of Asia. We hope to foreground the experiences of arts and cultural practitioners who may not position themselves on the front lines of political opposition, but whose artistic freedom is nonetheless hampered for a myriad of reasons.
The meeting will gather at least 120 individuals, including artists, arts managers, researchers, funders and policymakers from across Asia and internationally, with a program that will span three days, featuring talks, workshops, exhibition and performances. Topics on the agenda will include The Cambodia We Want, Reimagining Relocation, and With Whom Are We Building? We plan to focus on what can be done, and how those resources that exist might be deployed in new ways to build up expression and creativity, rather than dealing with crises.
Open call essentials!
Seeking: Proposals for 90-minute interactive workshops related to artistic freedom in Asia
Application deadline: June 1st 2026
Eligibility: Southeast, South and East Asian citizens resident in Asia (at least 3 of 6 awards will be for Southeast Asia)
Q&A Session: May 13th, 5pm Bangkok time
Click on the links for full details of:
Open call for workshop proposals
To ensure the Safe Havens Meeting 2026 foregrounds the experiences, concerns and priorities of practitioners in Asia, we are now calling for proposals from cultural and social practitioners (including but not limited to artists, managers, researchers, cultural rights defenders) based in Southeast, South and East Asia to run workshops during the Meeting that relate to our theme SEA Differently: An Asian Lens on Artistic Freedom.
In total we will select six workshops, with at least three being proposals from practitioners in Southeast Asia. The workshops proposed can be on any topic or in any format, as long as they are connected to the main meeting theme, 90 minutes long, interactive in nature, and suitable to run with a group of approximately 30 participants.
The selected proposals will be awarded:
- A $300 USD unrestricted micro-grant to cover any expenses associated with the workshop
- Support for a maximum of two workshop facilitators to attend the full Safe Havens Meeting from December 2nd -4th 2026
The workshop facilitators will also be required to participate in 3 online exchanges with the other workshops hosts. These exchanges will be facilitated by Mekong Cultural Hub.
This open call is not only an opportunity to raise the profile of your work and your concerns with a global community of practitioners from the arts and civil society who are interested in artistic freedom, but also a chance to grow your networks with peers and allies within Asia.
Please check the links above to access more information about the open call. If you have questions please contact safehavens@mekongculturalhub.org or considering joining the Q&A session on May 13th. We will publish the Q&A on this page after the event. Proposals are due by June 1st 2026. We are looking forward to hearing from you!
Partners & Supporters
This program is possible thanks to support of organisations and individuals including:
