But mum, I don't wanna be an accountant!

Tickets

Thursday 2 May, 6 - 9PM

The Flexible Space, Aviva Studios

Accessibility features available for this event: Wheelchair Access

Join creative Viv Yau, artist Keith Khan and creatives Isabella Leung, David Kam and Nasima Begum for a panel event discussing participation and careers in the arts for the Asian diaspora in the UK

Join community engagement consultants Viv Yau & Samina Ali and creatives Isabella Leung, David Kam and Nasima Begum for a panel event discussing participation and careers in the arts for the Asian diaspora in the UK.

Celebrating the launch of The Accountants - a new live stage spectacle from Keith Khan that brings together choreographers Xie Xin and Terence Lewis.

Bringing together Manchester's creative Asian diaspora, this event will celebrate and explore the contributions of Asians in the creative industry, as well as interrogate and contextualise why the arts can be less accessible to Asians.

Expect a chat with audience development consultant, Samina Ali and Keith Khan - creator of The Accountants.

Following this, Viv Yau will host a panel with established creative professionals, exploring data on Asian participation in the arts in the UK, followed by an open discussion allowing panelists to provide their personal stories and context.

Food and drink will be provided by Karahi Wok, and there's an opportunity to network after the event. It's free to attend - just click book now to reserve your space.

This event is curated by Viv Yau.

Partners: Fuse MCR, Voice ESEA, New Earth

To book your place please fill out this form here

Please note that there are limited places available which will be assigned on a first come first served basis.

Speakers

Viv Yau

Viv Yau is a marketer and agency owner by day of Bee Influence and an activist by night. In addition to her day job, Viv co-founded an anti-racist community organisation called besea.n (Britain's East and Southeast Asian Network). In her spare time, she’s a podcaster who discusses identity, belonging, food, and ESEA culture.

Keith Khan

Keith Khan was born in London, and is of Trinidadian Indian heritage. He draws, directs and designs. Last year, he had a solo show at Nature Morte gallery in Delhi, and a textile project with Burberry for Leeds 2023, which was made for all 33 wards of Leeds, and is now permanently installed throughout the city. He also designed the finale show to mark the end of their year of culture.

Isabella Leung

Isabella (she/her) is a bilingual (English and Chinese) actor, writer, and clown from Hong Kong, currently based in the UK. She works across continents, writing and performing in theatres and films. Experienced in devising, physical theatre, and comedy, her work often explores lived experiences within a social-political context. She tells stories through the lens of obscene or outcasted characters, using humor to provoke, confront, and seek hope with the audience. Her work has been featured in HOME and supported by the Arts Council.

David Kam

David Kam (he/him), a cis-queer Hakka Chinese Malaysian with a lineage of dentists, explores movement, particularly through yoga, cherished for its connection to his mother in Malaysia before moving to the UK at 17. Away from home, movement becomes his solace, a space to process thoughts and emotions beyond words. Transitioning from architecture to dance professionally, he realises the body as our most immediate inhabitable space.

Nasima Begum

Nasima Begum (she//her) is a performance poet, producer, actor and creative practitioner writing about loss, the feminine and spirituality and championing community. Nasima’s journey from Contact participant to Patron has involved membership of the Capital project advisory group Con:Struct, the Creative Experts pool and performances with poetry collective Young Identity, for whom she is now a Trustee. Following a Jerwood Creative Fellowship, collaborations with Manchester Literature and Manchester International Festivals, Nasima is currently developing her first script exploring what it means to be a British Muslim woman in the current political climate, supported by Factory International.