on September 30th from 2 to 5 pm

Which initiatives, collectives and concepts determine the latest developments in Berlin's Asian diasporic cultures? 

On this occasion, the Mutating Kinship Lab which now consists of 6 Asian diaspora artist-led initiatives in Germany, will conduct a presentation and discussion session about their project. Each initiative will also do a presentation of their practises and there will be culinary intervention expected on this occasion. Everyone welcome!

Language: English

The MKL

As diaspora, we are constantly mutating and inventing alternative kinship systems that embrace our mutated state. We invited current Asian performing artist initiatives in Germany to explore the idea of mutating kinship. Our desire for a mutating kinship stems from a collective response to the precarious living and working conditions as Asian diaspora. It is meant to resist the idea of political and cultural integration and assimilation, and advocates for an equality of co-existence.

Initiatives led by artists with Asian diaspora background have grown sporadically in numbers during the pandemic. But most of the time, they work in isolation. So we decided to bring some of them together to build a network of support and share resources and knowledge. In this lab, we attempted to work out a kinship system that could dignify our diasporic and mutating identities.

un.thai.tled is a collective that brings together artists and creatives from Thailand and those with a Thai diasporic background. The collective curates cinema and cultural events in which discourses concerning Thailand and Southeast Asia can be deconstructed and reshaped. Some members in the collective include Wisanu Phu-artdun, Sarnt Utamachote, Natthapong Samakkkaew, Rosalia Namsai Engchuan, Raksa Seelapan, Chonchanok Sattayatham and more.

AFSAR (Asian Feminist Studio for Art and Research) is a place for archiving contemporary feminist discourse and artistic research. Its online platform serves as a decentralized virtual space that brings together a wide range of practitioners across disciplines, fostering collective research to develop and support sustainable interactions.

MSG & Friends is a Berlin-based, queer-led, independently organised collective working to empower artists of Asian descent. Our initiative was to empower our local artists of Asian descent by providing event spaces and performance opportunities where a greater level of safety and understanding of BiPoC could be experienced. As MSG & Friends has continued, we have been fortunate and privileged to expand our reach across international borders. We organise events that not only promote community development within the Asian diaspora, but also workshops on political and social awareness. We believe that the arts have untapped potential to inspire progressive, inclusive discourse on the intersections of culture, art and race. Through independent organisation, allies and collaboration, MSG & Friends is proud to be part of the burgeoning political movement of the Asian diaspora in Europe and to support underrepresented artists of Asian descent.

Asian Performing Artists Lab (APAL) is an independent platform organized by asian artists for asian artists. It offers Germany-based performing artists with asian backgrounds the opportunity for creative exchange, experimentation and collaboration. APAL operates in 2 directions which work in tandem: the artistic and the social.

DAMN* is a political platform and open activist collective that connects, ampflifies and mobilises members and voices of the Asian diaspora in Germany against fascism, sexism, racism and other forms of intersecting discrimination through political community organising, education and empowerment.

Mo’Halla is a pop-up platform for progressive culture and politics, with a special focus on South Asia. We are based between Berlin, Germany, and Delhi, India. The word "Mohalla" translates to "neighbourhood" or "kiez", a socio-political unit that denotes the local and the immediate. "Mo'Halla" is also a mash up of "More", and "Halla", which translates to "noise of protest".

soydivision is a collaborative platform and artist group mainly consisting of Berlin-based Indonesian diaspora artists, positioned at the intersection of art and activism. Soydivision creates performances, workshops, culinary art activities, film screenings and discussions. The strategies focus on fostering socially engaged art creation, in the form of social practice such : cathartic experience, re-questioning, or therapeutic healing, become themes of our artistic output or activities. Their diasporic perspective offers an alternative approach to contemporary issues through art and invites a new kind of dialogue and engagement

In English language. With snack offer.

Admission free!