Support Community Social & Cultural Workshops

Hidden Keileon at Arcola Theatre March 2024

“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.” - bell hooks

We are Hidden Keileon , an independent artist collective working with migrant and queer people imagining futures with justice and freedom for all, by dreaming up and leading multidisciplinary, life-affirming cultural projects. We received a three-week residency at Arcola Theatre through the Pomegranate Programme. Now, we need your support to run a peer-to-peer exchange, and R&D for two social impact projects on migration and tear-gassing!

The first £24050 we received through this fundraiser will go towards the prioritising covering access cost (such as transportation for participants with high level pain), logistical cost (workshop materials, refreshments), then distribution of learnings of this programme and providing a stipend to everyone in the cohort of this exchange programme, who are mostly freelancers working on this voluntarily

With kinship as the heart of this programme, this is a gathering for dreamers and makers to come together and learn from each other. As the wider world is continually filled with violence and oppression which gradually infiltrates our daily lives, it is important to secure brave and safe spaces for fellow practitioners who are working at the intersection of arts, communities and social impacts to come together, learn from each other, grow collectively and dream.

Through this peer-to-peer exchange, we gathered a group of 15 individuals, including architects, artists, and community organisers, who are passionate in driving social change through cultural work. As a cohort, we share wisdom, knowledge and experience as a hive with dignity and respect for each other and build a stronger sense of community with love and kinship as key elements, without compromising anyone’s trust, safety and comfort. We see this work to be continued and amplified in the future as a peer network, and through sharing our learning - building a strong imagination infrastructure for changes to be made.

Depending on the experience and interest of the cohort, we are having sessions investigating, sharing and working on topics surrounding but not limited to the following themes:

Read more about it here

From there onwards, any more funding will support our R&D projects: ‘Out of Breath’ - an exhibition on the traumatic legacy of tear gassing, and ‘Minute Moonshine’ - a multidisciplinary project on migration.

‘Out of Breath’ is a socially engaged art project addressing the use of tear gas by repressive regimes as a disproportionate and excessive anti-protesting measure, which initiates intercultural conversations and deals with the traumatic legacy of tear gas exposure around the world.

Working closely with researchers, archivists, health practitioners, and art therapists, it provides a safe and caring space inviting people to share their stories about tear gas, how tear gas has been used and its impact on their mental and physical health through research and interviews.

In Nov 2022, we presented an experimental event for four days, named ‘Paradoxical Gasp.’ The event explores the links between tear gas as a form of oppression and the social issue of trauma, inviting the audience to consider how society can stand together in the pursuit of freedom regardless of background, race, and nationality. Tear gas plays a crucial role in the politics of oppression, domination and violence. Understanding its traumatic legacy expands our capacities to value human life, which serves as a moral basis for social transformations working toward peace and social justice. Click here to watch a highlight video

In this next step, we are working towards an exhibition to create a further platform for dissecting the impact of tear gas through immersive artworks, infographics, public discussions and workshops. Read more here: https://www.hiddenkeileon.art/out-of-breath

"Refreshing and welcome cauldron of ill-disguised sarcasm, genuine artistry, and thinly veiled jabs directed at the higher powers responsible... Demonstrating that this style of provocative themes and immersive techniques can make an impact" - Reviewed by Everything Theatre

‘Minute Moonshine’ is a cross-disciplinary project on the anxious and exhausted state of (post)-colonial identity-seeking. Previously presented as an alternate reality game and immersive theatre performance in Hong Kong back in 2021, we are looking at develop the London Chapter of this project.

We are looking at research with communities from Commonwealth regions and further dissect this psychosomatic aspect of post-colonial legacy that is under-discussed. The format of this project may take the shape of an online game, a podcast, or others. The R&D at this residency is crucial for us to take the first step. Watch this video for the highlight of the Hong Kong Chapter

To support the running of the R&D for these two requires a further £6580. It covers the labour cost, materials and running cost for these R&D.

If the fundraiser goes further than the target, we will work toward a zine to accumulate and share the learning we gathered through the peer-to-peer programme. It will not only be a useful tool for other community organisers to create meaningful spaces for furthering social impacts through cultural work but also an enjoyable and beautiful read for all.

How would the funds be used? (cost breakdown)

We want cover access needs costs, including transport for 18 days to share amongst participants: £1800

Video documentation: £200

Then to provide workshop materials and refreshment during the 9-half days programme: £30 * 9 days = £270

Then to support us to publish our learnings online after the end of the programme -

120 * 4days 6 people = £2880

Then provide a stipend to collaborators who are self-employed, for all basic needs and running of the sessions:

900 * 21 people = £18900

Who are we?

At Hidden Keileon CIC, we bring you the yet-to-exist and hard-to-imagine.

As an artist collective, we collaborate with migrant and queer people to imagine futures with justice and freedom for all, by dreaming up and leading multidisciplinary, life-affirming cultural projects.

We are luring the hidden Keileon (麒麟, กิเลน, kỳ lân, 기린) out of its cave as it hides from the troubles in the world. No one has seen a Keileon before as the world has never been at peace. We are fearful of the changes it would bring but are also longing for the joy of discovering the unknown.

We believe in

Creating safe and brave spaces for all

Demonstrating collective, non-hierarchical collaboration

Exploring possibilities and imaginations in the arts

Read more about us here: Hidden Keileon

“We are the ones we have been waiting for.” - June Jordan