{"id":2241,"date":"2018-01-26T20:38:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T20:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/seac\/?p=2241"},"modified":"2019-01-29T20:16:11","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T20:16:11","slug":"where-will-be-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Where will be Art?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the drumbeat of STEM growing louder on college campuses, the SEA x SEA Film Festival is a reminder that without the arts we miss the most important element in understanding and connecting with the world around us: the human.\u00a0 Last fall\u2019s talk by Jennifer Gaynor about a massive land reclamation project that would create a string of artificial islands in Jakarta Bay \u201cbehind the protective span of a giant seawall shaped like the outstretched wings of the mythical bird Garuda,\u201d revealed in colossal detail the dissociation between humans\u2019 technological impulse and the apprehension of our real needs and limitations, a gap which can cloud moral judgment.\u00a0 Her talk raised the perennial post-Enlightenment question: just because we\u2019ve figured out how to do it, should we really?\u00a0 Gaynor concluded her talk by showing photographs of the fishermen whose livelihoods are threatened by the depletion of fishing stocks and who had organized to \u201coccupy\u201d Islet G, one of the project\u2019s early prototypes.\u00a0 They succeeded\u2014at least temporarily\u2014in halting further dredging and filling.<\/p>\n

Many of the submissions in the SEAxSEA Film Festival<\/a> reveal to us the human dimensions of contemporary concerns in Southeast Asia.\u00a0 Amarta<\/em>, an audience-favorite from Indonesia, featured costumed actors on a set that seemed out of a surrealistic children\u2019s book.\u00a0 The set design gave the impression of an ancient folk tale, but the topic\u2014water rights and the commodification of water resources\u2014is all too modern.\u00a0 Other filmmakers used humor to tackle the issue of ethnic tensions, as exemplified by Umbilical<\/em>, which spotlighted discrimination against ethnic Chinese in Singapore.\u00a0 Violence confronting those who have migrated to neighboring countries to seek out work, the inherent dangers of the jobs that are open to them, and the complicity of government in fomenting ethnic conflict was portrayed more dramatically in Menuju Batas<\/em> and So-Khin<\/em>.\u00a0 The escalation of intra-national tensions between ethnic groups, and consequent reinforcement of stereotypes, was powerfully depicted in Kitorang Basudara<\/em> which combined astounding acting and a cinema verite-esque style.\u00a0 Following two college-age brothers from Papua as one looked unsuccessfully for a room in a boarding house and the other made ends meet working as a repo man while writing his thesis, the film immersed the viewer in the daily frustrations experienced by minority groups.\u00a0 Kitorang Basudara<\/em> ended with a radical suggestion in its low-key way: we can take the initiative to break the cycle by treating each other with decency.<\/p>\n

Where these problems are not created by human nature, they are at least exacerbated by it.\u00a0 Engineering a solution without reference to cultural norms, values, and needs is therefore an exercise in futility.\u00a0 In The Peace Agency<\/em>, a documentary about one grassroots effort toward interfaith reconciliation following the deadly religious conflict in Poso, Central Sulawesi, an activist explained that shortly after the violence ended a number of national and international aid organizations rushed in.\u00a0 Three different aid groups built houses, all based on different plans emanating from their own organizational missions.\u00a0 The differences between them\u2014some were perceived as more desirable than others\u2014became the source of jealousy and renewed distrust in an area still reeling from conflict between neighbors.\u00a0 Another aid group imported a pediculicide intended to treat the minor and common problem of children\u2019s head lice, but traumatized adults found it a highly effective means of committing suicide.\u00a0 The activist explained the community decided to find its own solutions rather than rely on strategies not informed by its true needs.\u00a0 The mathematical mind can design housing developments and artificial islands, but without an understanding of the needs of the people in whose name they are constructed, innovation cannot deliver on its promise to improve our lives.<\/p>\n

You can watch some of the films we featured online here:
\nNew Guitar Strings<\/a> by May Oo Tha
\nDreams of Cambodia<\/a> by Cyntheara Tham
\nHome Away from Phteah<\/a> by Peter Prom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the drumbeat of STEM growing louder on college campuses, the SEA x SEA Film Festival is a reminder that without the arts we miss the most important element in understanding and connecting with the world around us: the human.\u00a0 Last fall\u2019s talk by Jennifer Gaynor about a massive land reclamation project that would create<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":541,"featured_media":2242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","region-burmamyanmar","region-cambodia","region-indonesia","region-malaysia","region-philippines","region-singapore","region-thailand","region-united-states","region-viet-nam","research-theme-arts","research-theme-colonialism","research-theme-dance","research-theme-drama","research-theme-history","research-theme-identity","research-theme-post-colonialism","research-theme-science-and-technology","research-theme-visual-arts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhere will be Art? - Center for Southeast Asia and its Diasporas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where will be Art? - Center for Southeast Asia and its Diasporas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the drumbeat of STEM growing louder on college campuses, the SEA x SEA Film Festival is a reminder that without the arts we miss the most important element in understanding and connecting with the world around us: the human.\u00a0 Last fall\u2019s talk by Jennifer Gaynor about a massive land reclamation project that would create\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Center for Southeast Asia and its Diasporas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-26T20:38:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-29T20:16:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/01\/amarta3-750x422.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"alarilla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"alarilla\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/\",\"name\":\"Where will be Art? - Center for Southeast Asia and its Diasporas\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/01\/amarta3-750x422.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-26T20:38:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-29T20:16:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/#\/schema\/person\/17980f148a38853c55c3cb1cb9a41cae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/01\/amarta3-750x422.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/01\/amarta3-750x422.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/news\/where-will-be-art\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Where will be Art?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/csead\/\",\"name\":\"Center for Southeast Asia and its Diasporas\",\"description\":\"Just another The Henry M. 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