Now water can flow or it can crash, my friend | online launch and roundtable events

The program ‘Now water can flow or it can crash, my friend: Fluid archives of active discontents from East Asia and beyond’ consists of a series of online/offline roundtable discussions, interactive workshops, screenings and lectures to explore notions of art, archive, and activism in the context of East Asia and beyond – kicking off with a digital launch. The series is realized by Framer Framed in collaboration with ASCA/University of Amsterdam.

Framer Framed is an Amsterdam-based platform and exhibition space for contemporary art, visual culture and critical theory & practice.

Launch

Date: April 29 (Thu) 13.00 – 14.00 CET

On 29th April, the launch event of the series will take place online. In this event, the audience will be introduced to the project by immersive mediums such as visual teaser by artist Simo Tse, interactive quizzes and a musical performance by Hong Kong-based artist Sophy Wong.

Online Roundtable

Date: April 30 (Fri) 13.00 – 15.00 CET
Moderator: Lok Yee Wong
Panel: Lin Kok Cheung Dalu, Objournalist, Michael Leung, Susi Law

In today’s Hong Kong, with the reverberations of the ongoing protests, practicing art is increasingly becoming more complicated. Nevertheless, the imagination of Hong Kong artists has not been halted by the politicisation of the city, but flowing into communities in different forms. In the roundtable From stories to communities, from arts to Hong Kong, we gather artists who are contributing their works to the city among all the upheavals for dialogue and experience sharing.

The event is FREE and has limited spots. Please register to join the workshops by sending an email to reserveren@framerframed.nl. You will receive an invitation by email. The language is English.

Background

How to live life in a time of intense insecurity? A pandemic time, with a climate crisis looming and with populism, systematic racism worldwide on the rise? What can we learn from art practices and recent social movements hailing from East Asia to imagine a more sustainable future from our own situated context? The title of this program, taken from Hong Kong American martial artist Bruce Lee’s philosophy, reminds us that resilience and care come from fluidity, flexibility, and tenacity. In a turbulent time, we need even more so friends close and afar to make alliances for a journey in building a better world.

Together with artists, collectives, activists, and scholars, this new series digs into the question: what role do cultural practitioners play in social movements in East Asia? How do they transgress nation-based boundaries and join the flows with others? How can we archive actions that are always in flux, and so often, on the verge of destruction, disappearance, and alteration by the ruling powers? What symbolic and material techniques do artists mobilise to address ethics of resilience? And how can such artistic practices be restored so that we can learn from them?

In the coming months, we invite you to explore the various forms and creative potentials of resistance, remembrance; of fluidity, porosity, non-oppositionality, and care. Through this program, we advocate for a better world where we attend to our interconnectedness, where we float freely yet at the same time hold each other firmly, like water—formless and shapeless, maybe, but also more resilient.