Description:

Zomia is a hugely contested area in Southeast Asia. For decades, wars and conflicts have affected the indigenous communities in Myanmar. The Chin, the Kachin, and the Naga peoples have long resisted the oppression of the central governments in long civil wars.

This talk explores why and how the last of Zomia exist nowadays amidst contemporary world culture, politics, and economics. In particular, we examine the cultural expressions, customary laws, and livelihoods of the indigenous people who are associated with Zomia. Rare textiles, folklores, and lived experiences inform the topics of this talk and serve as the paths to understand the connected roots. This talk also includes newly translated folklores from the Chin, Kachin, and Naga peoples combined with an exhibition of textiles, selected to accompany the stories from the past.

What will participants gain/ learn by attending? Participants will learn a different perspective on the future of Southeast Asia indigenous peoples. People who are interested in knowledge and wisdom from the material culture and folklores will gain much insight and information from Zomia, the formerly anarchist region.

Presenter: Saul Chan Htoo Sang

Saul Chan Htoo Sang (b. 1998) is an independent filmmaker from Yangon, belonging to the Chin/Zo indigenous people in highland Myanmar/Burma. In 2017, he studied Ethnography and Media Studies at Grinnell College in Iowa, USA, approaching documentation through interdisciplinary practice. He is currently working as a freelance filmmaker in Chiang Mai while managing YOYAMAY, an ethnographic textile gallery.

COST : 350 THB