Dear Partners and Friends of SEA Junction,
In June, our first activity will be participation in Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC)’s mobile art space program – BACC pop-up @MunMun Art Destination– at one of the largest malls in Bangkok, Seacon Square in Srinakarin, we will be exhibiting for a second time the photo exhibition “Who Cares? COVID-19 Divides in Southeast Asia”. First displayed at BACC last year, the exhibition attracted wide public interest for the artworks of six photographers from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Myanmar, showing the entrenched wealth and welfare inequities highlighted by the pandemic.
Another June’s high point is our partnership with Womanifesto in support of their pioneering initiative “WeMend: Stitching Connections” to engage people in stitching together used clothing and/or other leftover fabric scraps thus promoting reflection and interpersonal connections.
Our commitment to Myanmar and displaced populations continues with participating in the commemoration of World Refugee Day at Chulalongkorn University together with the Asian Research Center for Migration (ARCM), AJAR, and other civil society groups, displaying once more Ta Mwe’s “Signs of Presence” photographs. Our regular webinar series of monthly updates will continue to discuss the latest developments and the democratic struggle in Myanmar.
With regards to our special initiative, we signal the cartoon and comics competition “Cartooning the ASEAN Way of Non-Interference and Consensus” in collaboration with AJAR to reflect on the role of ASEAN in addressing current and emerging challenges. If you are a cartoonist, comics designer, or art collective please participate, otherwise please help disseminate this information.
Finally, as usual, we will hold our monthly “Southeast Asia Mini Book and Craft Fair,” with a special offer of photos of previous exhibitions in an effort to raise funding for our activities. If you are in Thailand, you can also support us, by scanning the QR code below, otherwise you can contact us directly.
Best regards,
Lia Sciortino Sumaryono
Founder and Executive Director, SEA Junction
EVENT PROGRAM
Photo Exhibition: “Who Cares? COVID-19 Divides in Southeast Asia”
13 June 2024, BACC pop-up, Gallery 1, 3rd floor, MMAD, MunMun Srinakarin
In mainland Southeast Asia, the pandemic´s human toll initially was limited compared to that in peninsular Southeast Asia and to global figures. However, the image of a region largely unscathed by COVID-19 began to change by the end of 2020, when new strains of the virus emerged. Photographers from six countries—Edy Susanto for Indonesia, Hasnoor Hussain for Malaysia, Ta Mwe for Myanmar, Kimberly dela Cruz for the Philippines, Grace Baey for Singapore, and Sayan Chuenudomsavad for Thailand—highlight the pandemic’s disproportionate health and economic impacts on disadvantaged people, which still can be felt to this day. The entrenched wealth and welfare inequities laid bare by the pandemic demand structural reforms if we are to foster more just societies.
The exhibition, curated by Sayan Chuenudomsavad and Rosalia Sciortino for SEA Junction, was first exhibited at the BACC on last October, will now move to the new art space in Seacon Square Srinakarin to reach an even larger and diverse public.
See further: http://seajunction.
Panel Discussion – WeMend: Stitching Connection
Discussion: 15 June 2024, 05:00 – 07:00 pm, SEA Junction, Room 407-8, 4th floor, BACC
Stitching Activity: 16 & 29 June 2024, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
WeMend is a project by Womanifesto – International Art Exchange (Thailand) and was first installed for the exhibition Womanifesto: Flowing Connections at BACC last year. As a continuation, we are inviting the setting up of further workshops in various locations. For Bangkok in Thailand, it is organized in collaboration with SEA Junction.
See further: http://seajunction.
42nd #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar Update
18 June 2024, at 3-4 pm (BKK Time), on Zoom & FB Live
On 18 June 2024 at 3-4 pm (Bangkok Time), SEA Junction with media support by Mizzima and in partnership with AJAR will hold the 42nd #WhatsHappeninginMyanmar Monthly Updates. This updated series was started soon after the coup d’état in Myanmar with the aim of contributing to a greater understanding of the crisis situation there for informed action in support of the democratic movement in the country and beyond. We will continue to host Toe Zaw Latt, a senior journalist from Myanmar, as a resource person.
See further: http://seajunction.
Compassion Without Borders: A World Refugee Day Event
20 June 2024, 9 am – 6 pm, 4th floor, Prajadhipok-Rambhai Barni Building, Chulalongkorn University
Amidst the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, triggered by the military coup in 2021, millions have been forced to flee their homes, seeking safety within the country and across its borders. In commemoration of World Refugee Day, AJAR, in partnership with the Asia Research Center for Migration of Chulalongkorn University (ARCM), the Rohingya Association in Southeast Asia, Spirit in Education Movement (SEM) and SEA Junction aim to raise awareness and understanding of this ongoing humanitarian crisis.
On Thursday, 20 June, at 9 a.m. at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok a full day event will be held consisting of panel discussions, exhibitions, and film screenings. Through these activities, participants will share insights into the complex issues surrounding forced migration in Myanmar and the region.
See further: http://seajunction.
Southeast Asia Mini Book and Craft Fair
22 – 23 June 2024, 11 am – 7 pm, SEA Junction, 4th floor, BACC
Once a month, SEA Junction holds a mini book and craft fair focusing on Southeast Asia. At the fair, we offer small crafts from the region along with many books, including new books from recognized publishers, seond-hand books double to those in our library, and development-related books from outside the region that have been donated to SEA Junction. We also have a collection of books in French and Italian. All funds raised at the fair contribute to SEA Junction’s functioning and activities
See further: https://seajunction.
SPECIAL INITIATIVES
Special Initiative “Cartooning the ASEAN Way of Non-Interference and Consensus”
Deadline: Submission to info@seajunction.org by 15 June 2024
SEA Junction, in collaboration with Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR), invite cartoonists, comics creators, artists and arts collectives from countries in Southeast Asia to reflect on the future of the role of ASEAN in addressing current and emerging issues in the region.
The here-announced competition aims to enlist the creativity of cartoonists and comics creators to promote a critical understanding of ASEAN and its Consensus and Non-Interference principles. Cartoons and comics combine textual and visual elements to express ideas and create narratives to communicate ideas, balancing humor with seriousness. We trust that in this way they can draw attention to regional governance and trigger a conversation on steps needed in realizing a people-oriented ASEAN.
See more information: http://
For information please email southeastasiajunction@
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