Conversations and Convergences for Solidarity

Abstract

‘Conversations and Convergences for Solidarity’ is a collectively written reflection piece by artists Youngsook Choi and Cian Dayrit, curator Annie Jael Kwan and cultural producer Cui Yin Mok, who work with Asia-Art-Activism (AAA), the interdisciplinary, intergenerational research network that was first launched in 2018 at Raven Row. AAA was an experimental network that connected cultural practitioners based in the UK and transnationally with a shared interest in the paradigm of 'Asia/s' and the intersections of artistic practice and activism. AAA has evolved across the unfolding of the global COVID-19 pandemic, systemic social and health emergencies, multiple sites of socio-political unrest, and sweeping changes to conventions of travel, work and life. Its activities and gatherings opened up difficult conversations around building community and solidarity. While Choi and Dayrit explore their different artistic methodologies in engaging with community struggles and raised considerations of the ethical practices of care and confidentiality, Kwan and Mok discuss cultural organising as strategic interventions in working with problematic structures, and as the challenging (and sometimes painful) ongoing practices of 'being', 'being present', and 'becoming' together.

Notes

1 Political spirituality was initially Michel Foucault's proposition after his observation ofthe Iranian Revolution in 1979. He came to realize that everyday rituals, in this case in religious terms, can evoke a spiritual power for socio-political collectivizing (see Foucault's interview with Fares Sassine 2018 [1979)).

2 See references such as Tarinay (2021), Haynes (2021) andMacaraeg (2019).