Contemporary performing artists from 11 Southeast Asian countries are coming together to reveal the actual circumstances they are experiencing amid the Covid-19 pandemic during “Under The SEA”, the first online seminar series, which runs every Saturday at 2pm until Oct 17.
Organised by the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (Bipam), the seminar was originally brainstormed and planned for a usual full-scale meeting but later the organisers found it absurd to have certainty during one of the most uncertain times in modern history.
Instead, the organisation focused on how other performing artists in neighbouring countries are coping and created an online platform to make the virtual round-table discussions accessible.
The webinar series involves almost all Southeast Asian countries and features wide-ranging conversations with three to five “local guides” taking turns to introduce themselves, their works and slices of their communities and countries to each other and the rest of the world each week.
The first talk was presented by performing artists from Malaysia last week. The second talk will feature speakers from Cambodia on Saturday and the third talk on Aug 22 will be conducted by professionals from Indonesia.
Also participating will be their counterparts from Laos, Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, Brunei, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Thailand.
The on-demand show archive is available during the week. All sessions are conducted in English with simultaneous translation into Thai.
The webinar series is running every Saturday until Oct 17. (Photo courtesy of Bipam)
Visit bipam.org.
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