Art and Revolution: Asian Generation Z
Art and Revolution: Asian Generation Z
Art and Revolution: Asian Generation Z
Art and Revolution: Asian Generation Z
Art and Revolution: Asian Generation Z
Art and Revolution: Asian Generation Z
Art and Revolution: Asian Generation Z

Art and Revolution: Asian Generation Z

2020–2021 was a significant year in political history for Asia Pacific region and beyond. In 2 countries in the region, namely Thailand and Myanmar, citizens are attempting to make a revolution with sheer citizens’ power, whereas a pan-Asian online civic democratic alliance called Milk tea Alliance, the first of its kind, is connecting activists from Hong Kong to Taiwan, Thailand to Myanmar to foster the spirit of solidarity and mutual encouragement to fight against tyranny.

The main force of these democratic movements is Generation Z, the digital native who utilize internet and social media to try overpowering the traditional authoritarian power of Asia with an aim to create a better, freer, and more equal society where the government can be elected by fair and free election and that represents all the minorities including women, LGBTQ, and people in color, and to create a better future where fossil fuel is no longer used and global warming slows down.

And, in countries such as Thailand and Myanmar where the authoritarian regimes dare to use every means to suppress dissents from arbitrary arrest, torture to murder by guns and even artilleries, the only effective tool that citizens have and are able to use is creativity and imagination, as well as a spirit of solidarity and resilience. The Gen Z would first practice this online in a form of social media comments and posts, internet memes and digital arts before they hit the street, and the result is a curious hybrid mix of BLM, Umbrella movement, K-Pop, Japanese anime, Hollywood blockbusters, local-kitsch and symbolism that have never been seen in traditional “Fight-Oo” style of protests. And the references and languages that are specific to this generation – so much so that it can be hard for outsiders or older generations to understand, and thus it is equally hard for the authority to make sense of their meanings and arrest the creators.

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