สตรี (SATREE), our Designing Social Innovation in Asia-Pacific Network (DESIAP) event supporting women in art, crafts and social innovation in Bangkok concluded last Saturday, 10th of Dec. The event is the culmination of a year-long transcultural mentoring programme for women in Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand working in arts, crafts and design and social innovation. We packed a lot in over 3 days: a visit to the Nang Loeng community, hosted by Nammon (one of our participants), group reflections on various themes like mentoring, leadership, challenges and personal transformation, as well as sharing more broadly with the Thai public through a series of discussions, performances and workshops.
We were blessed with the presence of some amazing and inspiring women who generously shared their vulnerabilities, learnings and experiences on mentoring and leadership. Along the way, we learnt how important it is to reframe these concepts so it has cultural and gendered relevance for these women. We focused on approaches that support, connect, listen, encourage and build thick relationships. It was heartening to hear how the programme has enabled our participants to gain confidence, be more self-aware, draw boundaries and prioritise self-care. Key themes that we kept hearing over the 3 days were care, kindness, generosity, reciprocity, comfort, safety and friendships.
Over the coming months we will be sharing our learnings in various ways through our DESIAP (https://desiap.org/) and Kogei-Net (https://kogei.net/) websites and our social media channels. Thank you again to our funders, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Australia-Japan Foundation. It was also supported by the British Council Thailand and the Asian Womens Social Entrepreneur Network (AWSEN).
A massive THANK YOU to: All our friends and supporters who help made it happen: Boonanan Natakun, Fern Suthasina Chaolertseree, Naw Tha Ku Paul and Saran Tangtrongsit. Our critical friends from our Advisory Board: Patcharawee Tunprawat, Lauren Tan, PhD, Foo Joseph, Nicky Wilkinson, Yugo Hasegawa Hasegawa, Fumiko Ichikawa, Paradoxa Collective, Anna Farago, Yi Zhang.
And our heartfelt gratitude to our programme participants: Jun Yi Mah, Joyce Lam, Lhotse Collins, Nitcharee Peneakchanasak, Ruslina Muleng, Amando Ho, Sae Shimizu, Yvonne Tan, Narawat Welployngam, Armani Shahrin, EbRu, Tharinee Ratanasatien, Shauntai Batzke, Nikki Ralston, Lina Patel, Sayaka Watanabe, Akane Naka-mori, Areli Avendaño Franco & Michiko Tsuda
Northumbria University RMIT University Bangkok University Kanazawa College of Art Yoko Akama, Sarah Teasley, khemmiga teerapong, Yuko Kikuchi, Sarah Kushinsky, Ko-Le Chen, Hirotake, PH.D. Imanishi
