As a diaspora, we are constantly changing and inventing alternative kinship systems that take our altered status into account. We invited 7 Asian artistic initiatives in Berlin to explore the idea of mutating kinship: Soydivision, Asian Performing Artists Lab (APAL), Asian Feminist Studio for Art and Research (AFSAR), MSG & Friends, un.thai.tled, Mo’Halla and Deutsche Asiat*innen, Make Noise! (DAMN*).

From our experience running initiatives for performing artists with Asian diaspora backgrounds, we have found that many similar initiatives have sporadically increased in number during the pandemic. But most of the time they work in isolation. We would like to bring together some of the current Asian initiatives for performing artists to build a support network and share resources and knowledge. Through this lab, we explore a kinship system that recognises and honours our diasporic and mutating identities.

Our concept of mutating kinship is a collective response to the living and working conditions in Germany as Asian diaspora. It is a resistance to the idea of political and cultural integration and assimilation and advocates for equal coexistence. The focus of the lab is on developing proposals for a different kind of art production for Asian performing artists in Germany.

These are the three areas we work on during the Mutating Kinship Lab:

1. How can we design communal spaces that enable and promote the broad spectrum of artistic process and art production by artists from the Asian diaspora?
2. How can we create a support system specifically tailored to Asian performing arts initiatives in Germany?
3. How can we reimagine an ecosystem that challenges the current Western-dominated relationship between audiences, artists, funding institutions, critics and cultural practitioners? 

Dates: 1st – 5th July 2022
Venue: Vierte Welt (Berlin, Germany)

Video Documentary
Video trailer

Team
Curators: Ariel William Orah, Ming Poon
Artists: Ariel William Orah, Hanwen Zhang, Hany Tea, Kiyomi Ren Mino, Marque-Lin, Ming Poon, Mooni Perry, Promona Sengupta, Sarnt Utamachote, Thao Ho
Facilitator: Seyda Nur Günes
Writers: Emma Lo, Umi Maisaroh
Translators: akiko soyja, To Doan
Graphic designer: Irvandy Syafruddin
Video: Baskoro Agung Widyono, Isabelle Schmitz
Video edit: Isabelle Schmitz
Photograph: Yusuf Alazhar
Sound : Kei Watanabe
Subtitlel: Hoang Tran Hieu Hanh
Management: MIFRUSH Productions (Micaela Trigo, Urszula Heuwinkel)
Assistant: Lee Mun Wai

This project is part of B.A.L.L. (Bundesweites Artist Labor der Labore) supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media