Sunday Salon Series: A Colonised Body - The gendered site of SE Asia

Sunday Salon Series: A colonised body - The gendered site of South East Asia

South East Asia is a wildly diverse part of the world, it has ancient trade routes that have brought different religions, cultures and people to the region, as well as its indigenous communities. But within the UK these different identities are often reduced to a selection of dishes (roti canai, chicken satay, nasi lemak, laksa), hyper-sexualised women within war narratives, noble peasant-farmer-savages that need civilising, and of course the ‘eat, pray, love’ tourism vision of ancient religious spaces to find yourself. The multiplicity and complexity of communities, individuals and spaces get lost, and everyone thinks that peanut sauce is satay!

This plays out in many ways in the UK, such as the hidden Malay identity in the UK where, for example, food journalists continuously make the mistake of calling all food from Malaysia ‘Malay’, and Singapore is identifiable for its Chinese culture (think Crazy Rich Asians). Or, where Indonesia is defined by either a hedonistic Balinese beach party (a narrative constructed by the Dutch in the 19th century) or a conservative feminine image.

This panel discussion will unpick colonial narratives that are still at play in the British imagination; it will also explore the idea of gender and the effects of colonialism on the body in space - how we can or can’t take up space, how we are allowed to behave in different spaces, and moving between the UK and ‘home’.

The talk will mainly focus on Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, who share similar colonial histories, and feature three women in creative industries that are re-shaping the identities of South East Asia:

Anna Sulan Masing will be in coversation with Nur Khairiyah ‘Khai’, Khairani Barokka & Rahel Stephanie.

10am - doors open

11am - talk starts

12pm - we encourage everyone to stay, have lunch, coffee, a drink and chat with panelists and continue the conversation in a more informal way

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