Creative Migration is an international arts organization based in both Los Angeles, California and Bangkok, Thailand. Our mission is to bring together cultural and climate diplomacy with a special focus on collaborative community building through intersectional practices.
Our Flagship Hub: Bangkok 1899
We established Bangkok 1899 as a cultural and civic hub to provide vibrant exhibitions and performances through our International Artist Residency program. The hub also acts as a center for social impact programs, such as vocational training for at-risk youth and workshops for urban refugees to facilitate their transition to living in Thailand, facilitated by Na Projects, our partner.
Our goal with Bangkok 1899 is to create a light-hearted atmosphere where everyone feels welcome. Our open space encourages individuals to pursue the lost art of leisure and our hope is that the hub can provide opportunities for the public to come together, experience art, have discussions and discover new avenues of creativity.
The Inspiration for Bangkok 1899
Creative Migration’s flagship space, Bangkok 1899, was born from our Thai-American founder’s desire to understand her own heritage. This feeling has particularly resonated with Asian Americans and other diasporic individuals who have interacted with us existing in a third-culture of identity; this is the very essence of cultural diplomacy that drives our mission. Our International Artist Residency program has provided artists with cultural ties in Asia to connect with their own roots and share their unique stories.
Our Commitment to Climate Action
Creative Migration’s events are helmed by our ongoing commitment towards environmentally regenerative practices, which underpin all events and residencies that take place. Our organization has formed a new partnership with the grassroots collective Artists Commit to monitor and evaluate our own carbon footprint. We set actionable goals and develop the necessary resources for our own climate adaptation through implementing Climate Impact Reports (CIRs) into our primary events and activities. CIRs focus on four core aspects: cutting emissions; eliminating waste; supporting people; and collective action. Creative Migration hopes to establish Climate Impact Reports as a standard among the creative class.
In particular, Bangkok 1899 acts as a model for Climate Action by implementing Creative Migration’s new Climate Policy to reduce the carbon footprint of all projects and day-to-day operations. Our organization is also committed to producing CIRs for key programs to develop the most relevant and effective environmentally regenerative practices.
Our Recent Collaboration with Musician Francisco Lopez:
Most recently, Bangkok 1899 hosted renowned sound artist and experimental musician, Francisco López, on June 23 – 24, 2023, for the world premiere of his new sound composition “Himavanta.” These performances were the second section of a two-part residency supported by the Embassy of Spain in Bangkok, and were created exclusively with original environmental recordings of Thailand’s rainforests, recorded during the first part of the artist’s one month residency last September-October 2022.
As an artist that endeavors to share a unique, immersive experience of nature, Bangkok 1899 was delighted to curate López’s project, in the hopes that audiences can appreciate the ways in which we should co-exist amongst our natural environments. During his residency, López utilized his philosophy of exploring the sensorial and ontological reality with a blind, profound and transcendental listening, reinterpreting what he calls an “anthropoEXcentric” understanding of wilderness sound environments and sonic creatures. His performances creatively worked with a myriad of these new original materials and live sound spatialization to expand our exploration of Thailand’s rainforests.
Our Engagement with Emerging World
From Founder & Executive Director, Susannah Tantemsapya:
My first engagement with Emerging World was during my participation in the Salesforce, Leading for Purpose program. The Salesforce executives helped me draft a 6-month business plan to navigate changes to our organization due to the pandemic. I was able to cultivate the skills of Active Listening and Systems Thinking, which I could incorporate into my own organization.
I also attended the ServiceNOW Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIBs) Leadership Summit facilitated by Emerging World. This program allowed me to step beyond my own innate biases, and challenge how I approach work with people of diverse cultures – something I encounter often while juggling operations between Los Angeles and Bangkok. Learning about Inclusive Design models to create greater equity amongst my organization is also tied deeply to Creative Migration’s goals of cultural and climate diplomacy.
Most recently, I participated in the “Leading Effectively in a Hybrid World” program through Emerging World’s Partner Innovation Hub. What struck me most was the session in which we used Appreciative Inquiry to craft possibility statements and hone the vision of our organization. Amidst the fast-paced working environment, and juggling various day-to-day minutiae, the program gave me the space to slow down and reflect on my long-term goals for Creative Migration.
The Partner Perspectives blog provides a place for our partners to share their stories, talk about the work that they do and the impact this is having in their communities and the world beyond. If you’re interested in learning more about our Partner Network contact us.
