Name: Freedom to Move: Mobility in Southeast Asia
Start: 2026-05-29T09:30:00+07:00
End: 2026-05-29T12:00:00+07:00
Location: No. 13E, Street 830, Tonle Bassac quarter, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Freedom to Move: Mobility in Southeast Asia
A Talk & Discussion with Nguyễn Tú Hằng & Trần Thảo Miên (AiRViNe), and SAY Tola (Cambodian Living Arts)
May 29, 2026, 9.30AM-12PM
Cambodian Living Arts Office, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Mobility for cultural practitioners in Southeast Asia is often shaped by structural conditions: uneven access to visas, differences in funding systems and application requirements, and the expectation that mobility depends on institutional affiliation or competitive grants. In many cases, even regional travel comes with significant personal cost to artists.
Join Nguyễn Tú Hằng and Trần Thảo Miên from AiRViNe (Artist-in-Residence Vietnam Network) for a frank conversation On Artist Mobility In Southeast Asia. Drawing from six months of field research across Japan and Southeast Asia, visiting over 80 residency programs, artist-run spaces, and cultural organizations, they will share practical strategies for navigating the region's mobility landscape, and make the case that freedom to move is itself a dimension of artistic freedom.
What we will explore:
• The Structural Barriers: Visa processes, funding mechanisms, language requirements, and structural and administrative barriers that affect cultural mobility across Southeast Asia and shape participation in regional exchange opportunities.
• Preparing to Move: A practical guide to visas, documents, funding strategies, and how to design a project that opens doors including how to make the most of opportunities like the CLA Mobility Grant for Art and Social Action, in collaboration with the Art and Society Hubs Network Asia (ASH).
• Networks as Freedom: Why building and strengthening intra-regional networks is not just useful but essential and how the "vouch economy" of Southeast Asia can become a more intentional infrastructure for artistic freedom.
This session is designed for artists, cultural practitioners, arts managers, and anyone working at the intersection of arts and society in Cambodia, Southeast Asia. and the Mekong region. Whether you are planning your first cross-border journey or building the networks that support others to move, come share your experience and help us map a more resilient way forward.