Kuala Lumpur open mic

14/03/2020

THE ARTS SCENE POST COVID-19
[In pic: man who would be an Uber Eats rider today]

It happened slowly then all at once and now here we are, in our homes, and for some, unable to bring in an income.

I'm fortunate in that sense. I know I have no financial commitments and am in a household with a steady source of revenue. But some of our friends don't. Our freelancers and gig-ers and artists and people who bring in color into our world (whether it be literal or musical or verbal), in their own individual way. It's not made in a factory or by a conglomerate.

And it is at risk of dying away.

What most people are slowly coming to terms with is the fact that this is only the beginning. Governments are promising 14-day quarantines but let's be real, global problems happen on a global timeline. If this situation isn't handled with the care it deserves, we could be in for a long, painful ride. And for vaccines, forget about em. That's at best a year away, with human trials and the like.

I don't want to have this conversation either, but the decisions we make now will effect our society for years to come.

What will the arts scene look like ten years from now? Dwindled and dry with people too tired keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads to produce anything that makes these new-normal hard times a little bit more bearable? Plastic and mass-produced with a huge corporate backing for everyone to consume?

These difficulties aren't new, but with the shutting down and cancellation of all events and mass gatherings, we're seeing them exacerbated on a massive scale. This is our system's reckoning.

Or will these difficult and stressful times herald a new way of distributing wealth to independents? Will a new combination of the internet, micro-transactions, and personal mobile phones give everyone a way to produce their art and hold their events on their own terms? Will it be the new normal to tip your favourite artist online for a song? Or to earn money by holding online shows and gatherings outside the norm and convention?

I don't know. All I know is I'm sick of late-stage corporate capitalism and that if we don't do anything within this catalyst period, most of the artistic content we consume, ideas we espouse, attitudes we take, and things we agree on will have been manufactured for our consumption in a boardroom.

TLDR: support your independents.

13/03/2020

This month's event is cancelled :'( it's disappointing and a loss of revenue for our venue, but it's the responsible thing to do in these scary times.

Please stay at home till this whole thing blows over. If everyone does their part in maintaining social isolation, we should be able to get back on our feet in no time. If not, who knows when we'll .

11/03/2020

Introducing our first poet for You Can’t Say That / Spoken Word:
Pan-African poet and filmmaker poet_ck is based in Amsterdam. New to the scene, her striking observational and provocative poetry is grounded in her life and perceptions of society.

Find her on Instagram

11/03/2020

Poet #2 for You Can’t Say That / Spoken Word: Jackie Ashkin is a collision of worlds - thoughts from life lived between continents and cultures. Kind of like an angry version Sarah Kay.

09/03/2020

John Scalzi laying it down.

08/03/2020

COCKTAIL GIVEAWAY: Wanna get a FREE cocktail of your choice this coming poetry and music open mic? Just comment below with the most creative line answering:

"What does poetry do for the mind?"

Answers will be collected and blind-judged by our venue owner. No word limit, comment limit, or any creative limit.

We'll announce the winner the day before on this page. Good luck!

07/03/2020

Your monthly reminder for this week's If Walls Could Talk poetry and music open mic. Other cafes might use pasteurized milk in their coffees but over here it’s *puts on sunglasses* cultured.

27/02/2020

"It's not unusual, then, that young people might use drugs and alcohol to alleviate feelings of loneliness – or any other pain. "I would say to anyone: if through no fault of your own you've been made financially insecure, you've got massive amounts of student debt, you and everyone you know interacts primarily through social media sites designed to make you feel angry and alienated, and you respond by feeling terrible and seeking a chemical remedy to that pain," says Hari, "you're not crazy, you're not weak and you shouldn't blame or criticise yourself."

A recent poll from organisation Turning Point showed that 54 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds get lonely, and 21 percent say they are intoxicated once a week or more.