Myanmar Resurrection? Artists for Solidarity
While the Pope is communicating his Easter message of resurrection to the world at 12 pm today, a group of politically engaged artists question our understanding of what resurrection might mean concretely in the context of current violence, repression and (peaceful) resistance in Myanmar?
The network Transnation.art, a group of performance artists from Asia, Europe and around the world, has been present in social and more traditional media lately. Today saw an attempt and reunion of online solidarity in words and with a series of symbolic and content rich performative videos (see here)
Keywords from today’s press conference (see full version here)
to accompany today’s Easter narrative with sense (and referring to the various intervenants in the press conference), we hear about
-557 fallen protesters and regime oponents
-more than 50 poets, filmmakers, artists and intellectuals targeted
-people being tortured and released back to their family as means of deterence
-a Yangon based artist speaking on basis of anonymity…
…still able to communicate through vpn based networks, while most of Mynamar’s social media have been shut down for the past weeks now
-the same artist using different methods to circumvene the state control of social media
-security forces targeting ordinary people as they come home from work
-covid not being an issue in this part of the world….
-…in fact, the Yongon based artist tells us about hospitals and schools being used as operational bases for security forces to operate from. with whoever does not respond to their calls being threatened with his life
-artists and intellectuals from the Philippines, Cambodia, Kashmir and other states participating in what has become the break-out room of the press conference by now to share their experiences on martial law, dictatorship etc. , thus easing the pain of those who are currently in Myanmar in the center of the storm
-a manifesto being read and issued by Transnation.Art
-links to be passed on shared for the occasion
https://www.facebook.com/transnation.art/
https://www.threefingers.org/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/artforfreedommyanmar
https://www.facebook.com/Creating-Solidarity-for-Myanmar-106578728187885
https://mohingamatters.com/
https://www.facebook.com/mohingamatters/
this was to me a non-futile encounter, inspiring at different levels.
with continued lobbying and performances in the days and weeks to come (announced)
to be continued…