Join us for our Finissage of the exhibition Young Birds from Strange Mountains. We will celebrate this with a book reading by author Norman Erikson Pasaribu and a performance by artist Alvin Collantes. The event is taking place in spoken English.
Almost Happy, Always Queer: A Reading and Conversation with Norman Erikson Pasaribu
Blending queerness, spirituality, and Batak identity, Norman Erikson Pasaribu‘s most recently published poetry collection My Dream Job offers a playful ground where languages, mythologies, and the echoes of colonial violence intersect, while their debut fiction collection Happy Stories, Mostly subverts the promise of happiness through genre-bending tales of queer life in contemporary Indonesia . Through humor, irony, and emotional depth, Norman’s writing opens a powerful window into the absurdities, longings, and quiet resistances that shape queer experience in Southeast Asia. The event moderated by Ferdiansyah Thajib invites reflection on the role of queer literature in the region: its tensions, textures, and world-making possibilities.
Alaala (Memories): Performance with Alvin Collantes
In this last performance of the “Young Birds from Strange Mountains” program, Alvin Collantes (Bibingka), a Filipino-Canadian dance artist/choreographer, invites the audiences and the exhibition itself to come together and celebrate the end (or new beginning) of this project. A ritual of de-dragging – revealing the bodies underneath the drag and role one performs for society – will be conducted interactively, along with musical poetry chanting the spirit of waters. We together will celebrate the “Kapwa” (Filipino communal spirit of togetherness), and cleanse ourselves – awaken the memories of what has always been there.
“To pour water on the earth is to awaken memory. To bathe in the river is to remember who you are.”
Bios:
Norman Erikson Pasaribu is a Toba Batak writer from Indonesia. Their books in English translation have gained international acclaim, including being nominated for the International Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. They were an artist in residence for the Harvard University Asia Center in 2023. They are currently a fellow for literature for the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin program.
Alvin Collantes (b 1989, New Jersey) is a Filipinx Berlin-based artist whose work explores the intersections of queerness, diasporic identity, pleasure activism, and belonging. Rooted in embodied practice, their research interweaves cultural memory, migrant stories and the colonial gaze. Alvin’s drag persona “Bibingka” often hosts in Berlin’s beloved queer nightlife spaces, including Lunchbox Candy, WHOLE United Queer Festival, Horse Meat Disco, and SchwuZ. Alvin is currently a resident artist of Goethe-Institute Philippines’ Performance Ecologies hosted by Eisa Jocson and Franchesca Casuay. They often collaborate with musicians JakoJako and Jun Suzuki, Kiani Del Valle’s KDV Performance Group and Alvin Tolentino’s Company Erasga and has performed in various institutions including Savvy Contemporary, Theatre Des Westens, CTM Festival, Rewire Festival and Roundhouse Theatre Vancouver. A recipient of Ontario Arts Council’s Skills and Career Development for Persons of Colour and the Berlin Senate for Culture and Socil Cohesion, their work “Dose of Pleasure” has been featured in numerous publications including DW News, tipBerlin, Vice Germany and Arte TV.
Image: Fifth Wall Fest Philippines by JL Javier