'Counter Archives: On Acts of Resistance and Remembrance'

esea contemporary co-presents with Queer East, ‘Counter Archives: On Acts of Resistance and Remembrance’, a film screening and workshop that explore how memories and embodied histories can act as feminist and queer forms of resistance in the face of erasure.

Silences within historical narratives are often encoded in archives, where underrepresented histories are written out and marginalised experiences omitted. Embodied experiences of gendered violence during slavery, genocide, and war remain fundamentally unrepresentable, their traces at risk of being lost from dominant narratives

Through seven audiovisual artworks and a participatory workshop, ‘Counter Archives: On Acts of Resistance and Remembrance’ turns towards fables, land, bodies, and communities to decolonise the archive and reimagine how we might honour alternative histories beyond institutional frameworks. The programme invites audiences to engage with different ways of re-remembering and reanimating suppressed pasts through collective acts of storytelling and creation.

The screening will be followed by a workshop led by Sarah Chew and Cheryl Ho, where participants will explore collaging and zine-making as decolonial practices of re-remembering—superimposing the present onto the past to reclaim erased narratives and envision new forms of remembrance.

Booking is required as spaces are limited.

‍Programme:

Kidung/Lament

The spectral trace of Bali's histories of political violence continues to haunt present topographies.

Dir. Leyla Stevens | Indonesia, Australia | 2019 | 11min

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The Red Chador: Genesis I

Seven performers create an intentionally colorful spectacle to reclaim the gaze of the Muslim woman.

Dir. Anida Yoeu Ali | USA | 2021 | 9min

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The Altar

A buddhist fable-like story about the guilt of a childhood incident involving the killing of an ant.

Dir. Moe Myat May Zarchi | Myanmar | 2023 | 10min

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Earth, Land, Sky and Sea as Palimpsest

An invitation to cross thresholds and observe the unobservable: to see with our skin, hear with our feet, and feel our way above and beneath pathless paths.

Dir. Zarina Muhammad, Zachary Chan | Singapore | 2017 | 18min

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Di Mana Keluargaku Merantau

An exploration of the space connected to memory within the changing landscapes in Singapore.

Dir. Huda Osni | Singapore | 2024 | 12min

Single File

In the wake of cataclysmic regional change in Hong Kong, new realities of misinformation, digital consciousness, and cultural disappearance are reckoned with.

Dir. Simon Liu | Hong Kong | 2023 | 10min

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Private View: Joshua Serafin

An honoring of tropical myth and the dreamwork of a nonbinary cosmopolis emancipated from colonial hierarchies of gender and race.

Dir. Kitty Yeung, Joshua Serafin | Philippines | 2024 | 6min

About esea contemporary

esea contemporary is the UK’s only non-profit art centre specialising in presenting and platforming artists and art practices that identify with and are informed by East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) cultural backgrounds.

esea contemporary is situated in an award-winning building in the heart of Manchester, home to one of the largest East Asian populations in the UK. Since its inauguration as a community-oriented visual arts festival in 1986, esea contemporary has continuously evolved to establish itself as a dynamic and engaging space for cross-cultural exchanges in the British art scene, as well as in a global context.

esea contemporary aims to increase the visibility of contemporary art practices from the East and Southeast Asian communities and their diasporas. It is a site for forward-thinking art programmes that beyond exhibitions also include commissions, research, residencies, publishing, and a wide range of vibrant public events. esea contemporary values creativity, compassion, interconnectedness, and collectivity in implementing its mission.

Learn more at: www.eseacontemporary.org

Photo by Joe Smith.

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