I, Human: Becoming Visible
I, Human: Becoming visible
I, Human: Becoming Visible is a collaborative, creative project organised by King's College London; City, University of London and facilitated by Moongate Productions. It aims to engender a caring forum for East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) people to come together to celebrate, create and build resistance and solidarity. The title 'I, Human: Becoming Visible' foregrounded the shared experiences and the visibility of the ESEA community in the UK.
In November 2022, 30 participants, roughly ten each from KCL, City, and the community, attended a development workshop led by Jennifer Lim and Daniel York Loh from Moongate. Many participants did not have or had very little experience with artistic practices, which made it all the more amazing the films and performances that they created. The Moongate Mix event in February 2023 was cathartic, where the performances and films were showcased. All the participants, organisers, friends and families shared food, laughter, and many meaningful conversations and thoughts on and off-stage.
'It’s been a pleasure so far to be a small part of I, Human, and to be collaborating with such a wonderful group to create our piece' ~ a participant
videos
All videos were recorded and shown at the Moongate Mix Salon Session #9 I, Human: Becoming Visible on 6 February 2023 at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham.
▶️ Introduction by Jennifer Lim
🎥 Four Seasons Film by Ruth Almodal, Megan Chan, Kim Chin, Jizelle Hannah Patah, Karyn Tham, Cinny Xing
🎥 A Toy's Story: GRWM by Karis Ng
🎥 A Step Closer to Love by Gilang Desti Parahita
🎥 Maligayang Pasko by Hanna Pham and Georgina Quach
🎥 AAA by Eleanor Thoe Lisney, Nafisa Singhsachathet, Valerie Teh, and Eric Cui Wu
🎥 Panel Discussion Panelists: Daniel Loh York, Wing-Fai Leung, Amy Phung, Valerie Teh, Hanna Tham, and Christanghelo Godino
reflections
Read the reflections of the participants on their I, Human: Becoming Visible experience:
"Asians are not a monolith. We have made clear that we are allowed to be queer, mixed, disabled, scared, hurt, angry, radiant, desperate, passionate, without any questions or backlash."
"As the daughter of a refugee, it is rare to see refugees and immigrants take control of their own narratives in the media, so I, Human was an amazing opportunity to showcase the culture and lives of migrants, rather than just as statistics."
"Being here or there means a lot of things: It means I spend a silly amount of money to convince immigration systems that I'm only popping by for a visit. It means at this point I probably qualify for a Masters of Arts in Packing. It also means that all my journal entries aren't written in tiếng Việt. It means there are parts of me I can't describe to my mother. It means at times I feel like I'm midway across a broken continuum, too here for there, and too there for here.