In recent years, the fight against racism has been heightened by movements like Black Lives Matter and the Stop Asian Hate. The progress made and the increased visibility and representation has been credited to the dedication of grassroots activism, continuing to challenge the issues that still stand.
COVID-19 triggered waves of hate crime on Asians both in the UK and around the world - with attacks increasing by 21 per cent in Britain during the pandemic. While hate against a marginalised community may not be new, one Bristol-based creative wants to drive change by simply creating an empowering space that authentically champions culture and community.
Living in Bristol for a year prompted Hong Kong singer-songwriter and filmmaker Monica Wat to speak out against long-standing issues of discrimination against the East and South East Asian (ESEA) community. Monica formed Made on the Moon, a production collective that works actively to support underrepresented groups in music and art.
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Establishing Made on the Moon also inspired Monica to create her most ambitious project yet - MOON FEST. In partnership with ESEAS Bristol, MOON FEST is Bristol’s first ever East & South East Asian (ESEA) arts and culture festival, which is said to be inspired by traditional events such as Mid-Autumn Festival, Chuseok, Tsukimi, Tết Trung Thu and Uposatha of Ashvini.
Taking place on September 10 at Arnolfini Arts, MOON FEST will be presenting a unique blend of music performances, short film screenings and art, craft and food stalls - all run by people from the ESEA community across Bristol. Monica will also be joining an array of music performances including musician Thomas Kam and singer Lisa Lee.
Catering will be led by the likes of Wiltshire-based 5 Foot Way, which serves up Malaysian cuisine, as well as Filipino inspired eatery Kring Kringz. Additionally short films produced by and starring Asian creatives will centre on stories of the Asian diaspora - while the arts and craft section will feature Asian artists in Bristol, from ceramicist Cho Ceramics to digital artist and graphic designer Jenny Lee.
“We hope [MOON FEST] not only celebrates traditional festivals but also brings more ESEA representation to the events scene and to celebrate ESEA Heritage Month as well,” Monica said. “ESEA Heritage Month was quite a new campaign by besea.n - they are pretty much the biggest South East and East Asian organisation in the UK.
“So when I first got the idea for MOON FEST, I met filmmakers from other Asian backgrounds about ESEA Heritage Month which happened to be in September. I thought that not only is ESEA Heritage Month in September- it also coincides with the traditional festivals taking place. So I thought it would be a great idea to celebrate those two things together.”
She continued: “Also, because I’m passionate about being a musician, coming here from Hong Kong was a very different cultural and social norm and I felt that because I’m an Asian person so I’d be treated differently or I wouldn’t get as many opportunities. I really wanted to acknowledge that - not only from my own experience but, more importantly, for the wider community.”
With besea.n (Britain’s East and South East Asian Network) only launching ESEA Heritage Month a year ago, it felt timely for Monica’s own platform to challenge Britain’s racial discourse, which allowed ESEA voices to be silenced and ostracised for far too long.
Monica said: “I think cultural appropriation is quite common in the UK so I really wanted to bring MOONFEST to the wider community of Bristol in order to come together and to shine - we are visible, talented and diverse. Bristol is less diverse than London and, more so, a white area. Diversity is quite a beautiful thing so I notice while Bristol can be diverse, at the same time it’s quite segregated - which has always been interesting to me.
“When I think of East and South East Asian communities, I find it a bit more challenging to think of organisations or collectives specifically for this community. Besides ESEAS Bristol, I can’t think of any other organisations that are for East and South East Asian communities.”
Monica hopes that MOONFEST can be the start of ushering in conversations that explore the British Asian experience with nuance and sensitivity, while celebrating individual identities and cultures. For the festival founder, MOONFEST can be an opportunity to continue the fight for inclusivity in Bristol and beyond and ultimately pave the way for a plethora of voices and stories to come.
She said: “We are trying our best to bring more ESEA representation- that’s the core of it. If we could help ESEA creatives and communities in more ways, that would be amazing. ESEA people such as myself have been faced with assimilation and at a certain point in my life, I thought that being Asian was not cool anymore.
“That wasn’t even an epiphany when that happened, because it was the gradual microaggressions, the gradual discrimination, the gradual feeling of invisibility in various events and creative spaces that subconsciously infringed my attitude towards assimilation. I tried to distance myself from my cultural roots, which was pretty sad.
“The message we hope to bring now is that it is cool to be Asian. We don’t have to distance ourselves from our heritages in order to integrate into the wider community. We don't have to hide who we are in order to be validated by other communities. Among ESEA creatives, we might feel like we have to distance ourselves from each other because we don’t want to be seen as this ‘singular identity’.
“At the end of the day, I hope that we don’t distance ourselves from each other to avoid being homogenised. So I really do hope that by coming together as artists, we still retain our individuality - we’re not homogenous. Each of us are still human beings and that’s who we are. We have different personalities, different experiences and through all that, we can embrace them fully.”
For more information on MOON FEST you can visit the Eventbrite website by clicking here.
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