What is Made on the Moon?

The short answer is no. We acknowledge the unique individuality among ESEA creatives. We especially appreciate the diversity of cultures and perspectives even within East & South East Asia and our diasporas. Our experiences are informed by our multitude of characteristics e.g. genders, socio-economic backgrounds, upbringing so it is important for us to present diverse voices.

What we are doing is creating a bridge for not only ESEA creatives & art lovers to come together, but also to connect with the wider community in a way that ensures we are heard and respected. We strive to bring positive change systemically and institutionally by working with both ESEA creatives and organisations. For instance, at MOON FEST, we make sure to include creatives of different ESEA backgrounds and art forms.

While our ethos is bridging ESEA creatives with the wider community, at the same time, some of our initiatives, like the ESEA Moon Circle and certain gatherings, are open to people of ESEA heritages only.

That is because we recognise the importance of bonding and fostering a safe, comfortable space for our community. Sometimes, and to some people, that means being in a situation where only ESEA people are present. Not everyone is comfortable with sharing their perspectives, which can be challenging and traumatising, to people who may not share the lived experiences. With the prevalence in our cultures being used inconsiderably for profit and appropriation without credit or respectful contextualisation, we recognise the need for a protected space where our creatives can be treated with care and respect from peers.

Therefore, we offer a mix of events and projects in which everyone can ultimately participate. MOON FEST, our annual arts festival, as well as other public events, welcome everyone who would like to connect with us and our community.

The big question. One without a cookie-cutter answer, and not that there has to be. We always welcome critical and constructive discussions on ESEA terminology and definitions.

GOV.UK indicates that ESEA regions include ‘Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, North Korea, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam’.

However, we acknowledge that it is not a neat categorisation, as some of our members share ESEA lived experiences although they do not identify as being of the above cultural and regional heritages, perhaps because of their upbringing or lived cultural experiences. For example, we have members from Northern India, which is considered ‘South Asia’. But their ancestry may be more closely related to ESEA cultures so they are welcomed to our ESEA Moon Circle too.

The term ‘Asia’ generally includes a broad range of regions and cultures, including South Asia, West Asia, North Asia, Central Asia as well. ‘ESEA’ is relatively more specific to similar shared lived experiences and cultural roots, arguably speaking. But we acknowledge that even there is complexity within how similar such ‘shared lived experiences and cultures’ are.

A more UK-specific contextual answer is that, historically, the word ‘Asia’ is used to refer to ‘South Asia’. For example, the BBC Asian Network features only artists of South Asian heritages despite its name. Especially during the COVID pandemic, many ESEA people who looked remotely ‘Chinese’ were perceived as so, and became the targets of intensified racism, micro aggressions and discrimination, due to the unjust and negative association with the origin of the virus. ‘ESEA’ as a term was further popularised as a result, with more community organisations with an ESEA focus being born across the UK, including us Made on the Moon.

As you can see, there is no easy answer to each of these questions! That’s why we at Made on the Moon encourage critical reflections and discussions.