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Join us as we bring great photography by emerging and established photographers that explores ideas and our world through an annual festival of exhibitions, workshops and conversations led by Australian and international artists and thought-leaders. Head On Photo Festival is presented by the not-for-profit Head On Foundation.
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This is the story of a young man in Bhutan who is fascinated by Hip-hop and dreams of a better future.
This series follows the life of Kunzang Chogel, an 18-year-old from Thimphu, the capital city of Bhutan. His parents got divorced, and currently lives alone. Through hip-hop, he forged new friendships and gained hope for a better life.
In Bhutan, the unemployment rate of young people is high and has become a social issue. As prices rise, there are fewer and fewer jobs that can provide a sustainable level of income. As a result, young people grow more concerned over their uncertain future.
Hip-hop has become very popular among young people in Bhutan. Traditionally a conservative Buddhist country, there is a tendency to disregard the youth culture. However, their passion for hip-hop thrives in spite of their fundamental dissatisfaction with society.
This work incorporates documentary photos of Kunzang and the hip-hop community he has immersed himself in. "OF HOPE AND FEAR" interweaves photographs and street art to demonstrate how hip-hop has equipped Kunzang with newfound hope for the future.
Kensaku Seki was born in 1983 in Chiba, Japan, and is currently based in Tokyo. He graduated from Juntendo University, in the Sports and Health Science Division. Kensaku was the winner of the Yōnosuke Natori Award for Young Photographers in 2017. His monograph, OF HOPE AND FEAR, received a Portfolio Review Special Prize at the KYTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival and was a nominee for Photobook Week Aarhus Dummy Award in 2018.
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“The blanket of colonisation has been woven on violence and oppression has denied us all a kind truth. The impact of broken culture and languages and spiritual practices has left a deafening silence around violence in our intimate relationships causing violent assaults and sexual abuse.
Kindness is a movement. Sharing it is accessing your basic human right to personal and communal safely. We need to own our stories and come together to appreciate each other and listen. Violence hurts, it hurts society, its hurts families and it hurts you and I.
My Grandmothers were stolen from their families and enslaved, their culture and language denied. As a young person who witnessed family violence, I would never have believed I would be here today.
Understand that someone may not be ready to leave, and be kind and understand, don’t carry judgement or resentment of someone else’s journey. Give them a place to speak openly without being afraid or judged.
I said to my good friend, ‘I can’t live in this oppressive state of mind and not do nothing about the violence we are experiencing, personally and in society’. So begins the change when knowledge is learned and processed. Holding onto anger and resentment isn’t worth it.
No one person can be what you need to be or feel what you need to feel. Find safety within yourself.”
Dixie Link Gordon
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW Sydney
