a co-imaginational initiative in search of fresh solarpunk futures for south east asia
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Seapunk Introduction & Invitation
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The idea of Seapunk is a confluence of:
SEA is not just an assortment of neighboring nation-states, but a region profoundly shaped by its relationship to the sea, monsoons, and global trade routes, and all these entail. For much of its history, including today, a core defining role of the region has been as a bridge and link between South and East, both geographically between India and China, Yemen and Yokohama, but also culturally between the Global South and the Far East.
Despite being actively connected, there has never been a singular SEA empire, unlike many other regions. Initial surveys of SEA lore suggest fragments of a shared SEA sensibility, at least across the world of maritime SEA (sometimes also known as Maritime or Insular / Island SEA, and partially overlapping with Monsoon Asia). Might these shared elements be sufficient to inform a SEA ‘seapunk’ sensibility?
Intensive rice cultivation and water management were the backbone of many SEA kingdoms. But even at their greatest, the reach of rice kingdoms was small compared to the extent of sea exchange. Greatness in SEA was more a function of plugging into the sea ‘game’ than local land conquest. While each kingdom and ruler had its ‘center’, the real ‘meta-center’ of SEA was the sea. No man, no people were as big as the sea.
To SEA, for centuries (at least prior to the 1500s), the sea provided connectivity without colonization. Interoperability without imperialism. Exchange without empire. While there were periods of strong centers and influence, the sea was rarely ever one power’s pond.
The spirit of punk is to embrace new tools or tech while rejecting the technocracy or authority they come with. Interestingly, this has deep resonance with the culture and history of SEA which, adjacent but not subject to the world’s trade routes, has a long and colorful history of adapting and repurposing global ideas and tools to suit local sensibilities – be they foods, textiles, languages, or even gods.
Seapunk has a rich, colorful and sea-centric tradition to draw from. But what future(s) might it draw up?
When we think of South East Asia today, we often think of the ten nations of ASEAN with their lands and flags, states ruled by strongmen, and a ‘developing’ region catching up to the developed world.
But SEA could be so much more. For most of its history, the region was a single hyperworld connected by the sea, sharing trade, food, and religions across peoples, languages, and cultures. SEA was open to the small and decentralized, where refugees from one land could start fresh lives in another, where people could move and assimilate into new ports, cultures, and communities.
What if some of these historical aspects could be reimagined and reinvented, perhaps leveraging the technologies of today? Could SEA become not just a ‘catch up’ for yesterday’s modernity, but a frontier for planetary solarpunk experimentation? Could young South East Asians begin to dream not of studies in and emigration to California or London, but of research and entrepreneurship on rainforests, regenerative agriculture, tropical architecture and urbanism, biodiversity stewardship, culinary experimentation, and more (along with many young global creators attracted to innovation at the new frontiers of SEA)? What possibilities might this unlock for SEA, for Asia, for the planet?
Part Southeast Asian studies, part creative collective, part human systems futures, Seapunk Playshop is a two-week co-imagination camp in Chiang Mai this Oct 21 — Nov 3, with the goal of making great seapunk memes, games, and worlds.
The Playshop will run in two stages, both in Chiang Mai:
<aside> 🗺️ I. SEAPUNK STUDIES STUDIO (Oct 21-31) The first ten days will be a collective co-learning season to go deeper and cross-pollinate on all things ‘seapunk’ featuring a pop-up library, curated resources, discussion groups, and more.
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<aside> 💡 II. SEAPUNK SYMPOSIUM (Nov 1-3) The climax of the Playshop, the Symposium will be a conference for participants to share findings and provocations. This will be followed by a creative speculative-(non)fiction sprint with imagination and writing challenges to generate concepts, characters, and worlds based on Seapunk research, questions, and imaginations.
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We highly recommend that participants (Playshoppers) join for the entire two-week period, and even consider spending more time before and after in Chiang Mai to make the most of the vibrant popup village season.
Those with limited travel time but who would still like to engage with Seapunk research and content can still sign up for the Nov 1-3 weekend and plan travel accordingly. Nov 1 activities will start in the morning (so it’s best to arrive in Chiang Mai by night before), but it should be feasible to take Nov 3 evening flights out of Chiang Mai without missing out on the program.
Oct-Nov 2024 will be a unique popup village season in Chiang Mai, with over a thousand curious travelers coming to live across over a half dozen popup villages, and hundreds of other gatherings and events going on. Seapunk Playshop will be part of this, so Playshoppers will also get to plug into a vibrant ecosystem of activities and collaborations.
©️ THE SEAPUNK PROJECT 2024
