What is Morasum?
A network that brings together producers and artists from Southeast Asia to share ways of doing and being as practitioners in their respective contexts.We aim to address the barriers of entry for emerging practitioners to engage in deeper cultural exchange and collaboration within the region.
Connecting Contours
How do our ways of being change when the contours of our practice meet? What does it mean to be a practitioner of the arts in Southeast Asia? What can we learn from our collective wisdom?The region of Southeast Asia is a colourful and diverse mix of peoples, practices, and geographies. Our diverse practices in the arts reflect this. From traditional art forms developed over centuries, to the contemporary practices of today, from the cities of Bangkok, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, to the many islands that dot the archipelago. There is a need for us to understand what it means to be in this vibrant landscape as producers and arts practitioners, and through learning from and with one another, find our voice.Connecting Contours brings together a community of early career arts producers and practitioners from Southeast Asia for a week of dialogue and exchange. Over one week, we will share our own respective practices and perspectives of our arts ecosystems in our contexts, exploring deeply where we overlap and align, and where we differ and diversify.Through public engagement sessions, discussions, participant led activations, and mixers, we will explore and better understand each other’s strengths, barriers to entry, modes of organising, and opportunities for future collaboration.Participating Fellows:
Kenny Ng (MY)
Putrina Rafie (MY)
Tường Vi Đoàn (VN)
Lyon Nguyễn (VN)
Nguyễn Hải Yến (Red) (VN)
Piengrawee Sirisook (TH)
Maryam Tayeb (SG)
Neo Kae Yuan (SG)
Mark Benedict Cheong (SG)
Isti Fadah Nur Rohmah (IN)
Arby Hamiya Saquilabon (PH)
Gabriel Villaruel (PH)
Micah Sofia Pinto (PH)
Panel Discussion - Working With/In The Region
Morasum Network x The Substation Sub+ Community ProgrammeSaturday, 16 May 2026
630pm - 8pmThis engagement session focuses on the efforts of independent practitioners and organisations working with and within the Southeast Asian region from multiple perspectives. Whether it is efforts to connect practitioners, decolonising our ways of training, or exploring and building ways of practice and thinking that are specifically Southeast Asian, these independent practitioners and organisations are finding ways to exist not just locally, but regionally.What efforts have they made to connect the region? What drives them to work with and embody a regional practice? What challenges exist as an independent organisation / practitioner? What resources do we tap on? How else can we grow together as independent practitioners and organisations?Panellists:
Koh Wan Ching - Intercultural Theatre Institute
Audrey Wong - The Substation—
Mixer - Working With/In The Region
Morasum Network x The Substation Sub+ Community ProgrammeSaturday, 16 May 2026
8pm - 10pmFollowing the panel discussion on Working With/In The Region, catch up with old friends and meet new ones at this mixer hosted in partnership with The Substation Sub+ Community Programme!Refreshments are provided.
RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/CufcRSfzRrWLuMbL8—Engagement Session - Programming With/In The Region
Sunday, 17 May 2026
630pm - 8pm
136 Neil Road, Singapore 088865This engagement session engages organisations who operate with and within the region to programme and curate Southeast Asian projects, works, and connections. From studio festivals, to research projects, to collaborations outside the region with regional partners. This session aims to explore the wider picture of our regional ecosystems and how they interact.How do institutions connect with a Southeast Asia with disparate means of access and resources? What considerations arise in programming a Southeast Asia-based project? What trends or patterns exist that SEA-based practitioners can look out for?The session will be followed by a community gathering from 8pm, during which participants and members of the public can come together over light refreshments.On the panel:
Athelyna Swee - T.H.E Dance Company
Kenny Ng - Penang Art District, Hin Bus Depot
Hanie Nadia Hamzah - Esplanade - Theatres On The BayRSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/QaEjXFtHiq2Vc2rs5—Morasum Network Night
Monday, 18 May 2026
630pm - 10pm
136 Neil Road, Singapore 088865Hear from participants of the Connecting Contours through their post-program sharing, and spend the evening getting to know artists & producers in this potluck mixer! Come for the sharing, stay on after and get connected with fellow emerging producers and practitioners in the region!
__________Supported by Goethe-Institut Singapore as part of the Goethe Lab.
Morasum in Penang -
Come To Gather!
Calling all emerging producers and artists in town to join us on 30th July for a roundtable to discuss mobility in the region. Meet members of the arts communities of Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia, and find new ways of encountering and working with one another, considering what mobility means to us!All this, right before “puzzles” – A Collaborative Dance x Live Music Guided Jam Session with 129BPM led by acclaimed choreographer Quan Bui Ngoc of 129BPM, alongside live music by Tiny Giant x Nguyen Dan Duong.Venue: Penang Youth Centre, Lebuh Aceh, 10450 George Town
Date: 30 July 2025
Time: 6:30pm - 7:30pmAdmission is free, but drop us a message on Instagram @morasum.network if you’re coming!
What's Next?
Over the past month, the Morasum Network team has been reflecting on a simple question ‘What’s Next?’ It is the big question we're seeking to answer after our launch at the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting 2025.
And what’s next is we want to hear from you on pertinent questions regarding mobility and network building, continuing from the conversation we began a month ago.What gaps and barriers are we addressing through building networks? How are these unique to your context?How do we build regional networks in tandem with local mobility?What spaces need to exist to build these networks? How can spaces act as sites that create mobility?How and what knowledge sharing builds networks?Help us out by filling up the form below or scan the QR Code here! Your contribution will help us better understand the needs of ecosystems within Southeast Asia that an arts practitioner network may provide.
Roundtable
To-Gather: Building Creative Networks and Their Role in Mobility
At the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting, Morasum Network hosted our first roundtable. As part of this roundtable, artists were invited to present their perspectives on mobility and network, exploring new boundaries, meeting new people, and expanding their perspectives.Artists:
Hil Ramli (MY)
Izzardzafli (MY)
Chew Shaw En (SG)
Nur Arianty (SG)
Nguyen Hoang Anh (VN)
Sasa Cabalquinto (PH)
Miss Oat (TH)
Thanaphon Accawatanyu, First (TH)
Aom aka Amadiva (TH)We are also joined by friend of the network Gyohee Baek, Festival Producer of the Seoul Fringe Festival, and Na Hui-Gyeong, producer and theatremaker.
