“We are severely limited by how beautiful we can see this world right now. Artists can help people keep dreaming.” Jason Bayani


E145 -Jason Bayani on Uninterrupted Imagination, Silence and Trust

An Artist’s Way During Wild Times


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About this interview:


How do we imagine and flourish a future in times of wild interruptions?

“We are severely limited by how beautiful we can see this world right now. Artists can help people keep dreaming.” Jason Bayani

In this episode Amisha talks with Jason Bayani, poet, author, educator and arts organiser. His poetry books ‘Amulet’ and ‘Locus’, the latter nominated for the Northern California Book Award, and his solo theatre show ‘Locus of Control’ explore the experience of identity of Pilipinx-Americans. His poems are oral histories, tales of magic and myth, ‘creatures of excess’, as he describes them. Jason is the co-director of ‘Kearny Street Workshop’ in San Francisco, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific American arts organisation in the country.

Jason shares a flow of collective insight embracing intuition, embodiment and grief, which he gathered during a Bioneers event with Nina Simons, both him and Amisha attended. This rich reading offers signposts and profound questions for navigating our current time.

Together they speak of the search for uninterrupted spaces of silence where our dreams and imagination can flourish, where we can reclaim and provide ourselves with soulfulness. They speak of the importance of giving ourselves permission to ‘disappear’ into these spaces as a way of dissolving the pressures of productiveness impressed upon us, and as a necessity to flourish creative visions and expressions for the future.

Jason reveals that artists are pivotal in igniting our dreams. An artist’s way can help us dream ourselves into new realities beyond the current systems and crisis of imagination. He believes that artists have ways of stirring the severely limited view of beauty, which we are able to see in this world right now.

We learn that seeking the tenderness of our creativity, unfolding it at its own pace and trusting this process is where we will visit the real depth of our creativity, where we will reconnect with our identities and root into our intuitive experience. This process will bring forth our true expressions, spark our imagination and help us engage in meaningful ways during times of wild interruptions.

“I just have to believe we can think beyond any of the current systems that we have. We can dream of something more than this.” Jason Bayani


Jason Bayani is a poet, author, educator and arts organiser. His poetry books ‘Amulet’ and ‘Locus’, the latter nominated for the Northern California Book Award, and his solo theatre show ‘Locus of Control’ explore the experience of identity of Pilipinx-Americans. His poems are oral histories, tales of magic and myth, ‘creatures of excess’, as he describes them. Jason is the co-director of ‘Kearny Street Workshop’ in San Francisco, the oldest multi-disciplinary Asian Pacific American arts organisation in the country. He’s an MFA graduate from Saint Mary’s College and a Kundiman fellow. His publishing credits include World Literature Today, Lantern Review, and other publications. Jason is the recipient of the 2021 California Arts Council Established artist fellowship and is a featured artist for the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists Festival in 2022. He performs regularly around the country and debuted his solo theatre show “Locus of Control” in 2016 with theatrical runs in San Francisco, New York, and Austin.

To connect or work with Jason, visit jasonbayani.com

 To connect or work with Amisha, visit amisha.co.uk


 

artwork: SixnFive

Links from this episode:

Jason Bayani Instagram 

Jason Bayani Twitter

Kearny Street Workshop

Bioneers

Fundraiser for Amazon . ‘Centre of Memory’ Huni Kuin 

Nina Simons – Nature, Culture and the Sacred: Listening for Leadership . all that we are . E81

Feminine Leadership, Resilience and Life’s Joy with Nina Simons, Stephanie Mines and Zerbanoo Gifford // Dancing Our Lives Into A Global Renaissance . all that we are . E100 

David Shaw

Amy Lenzo

Jerry Tello

Michaela Coel speech 

Asian American Arts Alliance

Diane di Prima


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