From Bystander to Response: A workshop on Imagining Feminist Solidarities in South Asia (and beyond)

Day 2 11am 2 hours English

Feminist organisers and collectives in South Asia and beyond, have been forced to be bystanders or have found themselves as bystanders in a multitude of contexts and situations. There is either inaction because of issues of power or privilege (or the lack thereof), and this could lead to situations of trauma (both individual and collective) as a result of this witnessing.

Reacting is not enough, and there needs to be safer spaces for diverse communities to share their challenges, experiences and expectations. Through this workshop, we will facilitate a sharing, co-creation and challenging of the concept of ‘the bystander’ in the context of imagining feminist solidarities in South Asia (and beyond). It will be informed by our experience as co-editors (along with 4 other co-editors and 50 South Asian artists and creatives), crowd-funding and bringing to life Kadak Collective’s ‘Bystander Anthology’.

Kadak is a collective of women, non-binary and queer folk from South Asia who work with graphic storytelling across a range of mediums. Key questions and issues we will discuss: What makes or unmakes a bystander? What does it mean to be, or not be one? How can we co-create and build collective and individual responses to situations that are rooted in feminist solidarities? How can we mobilise through cross-border, cross movement, trans-national solidarities, to move from bystanders to response? How can we work towards ensuring that these narratives are resourced to come to life, through art and creative expression?