POA 2025 Opening: Mapping Faded Dreams — Keynote by Hit Man Gurung
About Hit Man Gurung
Hit Man Gurung is an artist and curator based in Kathmandu. His diverse practices invoke indigenous methodologies and epistemologies to reconfigure contemporary artistic praxis and interrogate the fabric of human mobilities, frictions of history, and failures of revolutions. While rooted in the recent history of Nepal, his works unravel a complex web of kinships and extraction across geographies that underscore the exploitative nature of capitalism.
About This Event
The opening night of T:>Works' annual conference series Per°Form Open Academy celebrates a week-long immersive keynotes and engagements with ArTree Nepal, a collective of 5 diverse indigenous artists (Hit Man Gurung, Lavkant Chaudhary, Mekh Limbu, Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Subas Tamang) who intersect with the younger collective Kala Kulo (Bishal Yonjan and Priyankar Bahadur Chand), and an independent writer working on histories and archives (Indu Tharu).
Through keynote, in-conversation and interactive sessions, each artist and cultural activator spotlights indigenous narratives, grounded on issues surrounding reclamation of rights, equity, and sustenance of identity and culture. Collectively, they develop ground-up activations that effectively and sensitively engage resources and voices from the indigenous communities of Nepal as they nuance sustainable relationships between the human and non-human.
Over the course of several wars in the 20th century, thousands of Gurkhas died or disappeared in foreign lands without recognition. Their sacrifices were often reduced by colonial powers to mere acts of bravery, objectified and decontextualised. The continued presence of Gurkhas even in postcolonial nation states reflects a colonial legacy of militarisation that obscures deeper struggles with identity, displacement, and estrangement. For many Indigenous communities in Nepal, serving as Gurkhas became a generational legacy. However, migration patterns are shifting, with individuals from across the country leaving as temporary labourers, often relegated to menial, low-paying jobs. Nepal’s economy now heavily depends on remittances sent by these very workers. Drawing on the artist’s longitudinal cartographic inquiry into migrant aspirations and disillusionment, this session maps the deeply personal repercussions of extractive political and social systems. The keynote ends on migratory patterns of both human and non-human, based on Hit Man’s recent continuing research on birds.
This keynote is followed by a supper reception.
Donation Ticketing
Inclusivity is a core value of Per°Form Open Academy.
If you are in a position to give more, please consider further contributions towards this and future iterations of Per°Form Open Academy. Your contributions, no matter big or small, help us mount Per°Form Open Academy and enable a gathering of international arts practitioners and cultural innovators in Singapore. Details are in the donation portal below.
Admission Rules
Rating / Age Limit
- No age limit for registration.
- All other admissions are subject to valid registration tickets produced at the entrance.
Photography / Video Recording Rules
- Please note that photographs and videos of patrons may be taken at the event for use in our archival and publicity materials.
Refund Policy
- All donations are non-refundable.
Wheelchair Users
- 72-13 is wheelchair-accessible and includes limited wheelchair seating. Please contact us at 6737 7213 to book wheelchair seats.
Contact Us
- For more information on Per°Form Open Academy of Arts and Activations, visit performfellowship.org.
- For any enquiries, please email [email protected] or call at 6737 7213.
About Per°Form Open Academy of Arts and Activations
Per°Form Open Academy of Arts and Activations (POA), T:>Works’ pioneering platform on thought leadership in the arts, returns 7–28 February 2025. POA 2025 brings together some of the most respected and renowned figures at the intersection of arts and social responsibilities. Drawing on their decades-long practices to address issues of minority, disability, gender, sexuality, cultural representation, and stakeholder and public engagement, they challenge conventional perceptions on what is possible today.
Banner and portraits: Images courtesy of Hit Man Gurung.