Changemakers

Sara Tunich Koinch (Durga Sunuwar) (she/her) was born in Sindhuli, but her family migrated soon after her birth to Dhanusha District of Nepal. With humble beginnings in a home grounded in craftsmanship and care, Sara’s current work focuses on researching her own indigenous identity and cultural heritage, using art as a means to connect with her roots and engage with broader indigenous narratives. Her work seeks to materialize complex subjects and lived experiences, continually expanding her mediums and methodologies in the process. Follow Sara’s work on instagram @sara.koinch

Shirley (she/her) and Araceli (she/her) are the artist-duo of Cooperativa Visual, an interdisciplinary DIY collective of Bolivian women. In the past few years, they have been working with themes relating to the preservation of memory, through the mediums of image and sound to encourage critical reflections and new ways of thinking. They also work with a variety of communities who are being affected by extractivisms – extraction including deforestation and mining – within their territories and also with women whose lives have been damaged by the structural violence of patriarchy.

Xaytun Ennasr (they/she) is a multidisciplinary artist and designer. Their work includes videogames, drawings, ceramics, installations, and text. It centers around Palestinian liberation, intersectional resistance movements, and revolutionary cultural production. They often use the vocabulary and aesthetics of science fiction, folklore, and radical softness as devices to depict a world beyond capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy.

Liliana (Ellae/They) is a hack-feminist queer artist, writer, community organizer, and producer, originally from Guadalajara, México. They imagine, design and rewrite landscapes, languages, and worlds. Their work interconnects pathways between body, poetry, collective memory, resistance, feminist infrastructures, digital collective care, radical imagination, sound landscapes, and affective technologies. They are a co-founder of Laboratorio de Interconectividades, and co-creator of transfeminist projects, workshops, and gatherings to eradicate (online) gender-based violence and create safer and joyful spaces for women, trans, non-binary, LGBTQ2IA* people, and BIPOC. They practice martial arts and hiking, deep listening, stargazing, and sometimes they remix beats.

Alma Gačanin (she/her) lives and works as an artist, regardless of the job she might have at any given time. She holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts Education from the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo, specializing in Art Education. In 2022, she received the ZVONO Award for the best artist in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her work is based on exploring the specificities of labor and the precarity of certain occupations, with a particular focus on the position of women in capitalism and the gendered division of labor. Alma writes poetry and has been published in magazines, anthologies, and online portals.

Ivón is a Peruvian artist and percussionist with more than 15 years of experience in prominent groups such as “Perú Negro” and “NOVALIMA”. She is dedicated to promoting spaces for women in music, and also as a teacher of Afro-Peruvian music. As a member of “KIMBAFÁ” and with a multidisciplinary approach, she is a “zapateadora” and performer. Her career has prompted her to found “Peru Mujer”, a project led by women.

Krantinaari (she/her) known as “Voice of Revolution,” is a versatile artist, rapper, and graphic designer from Mumbai, India. Her music, a fusion of Hindi, English, and Kannada, champions women’s empowerment and social justice. Despite gender-based challenges, she pursued her passion for music after studying graphic design in Tamil Nadu. Krantinaari’s lyrics boldly confront gender inequality, climate crisis and tribal women’s lives, inspiring women to amplify their voices. She co-founded Wild Wild Women, represented Indian women music at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival and was a fellow in the global Onebeat residency in the USA. Krantinaari’s impactful work resonates nationally and internationally, marking her a trailblazer in Indian Hip-Hop music.

Saadia Batool (she/her) is a mixed-media artist from Pakistan. She graduated with a distinction in Fine Arts from the National College of Art Lahore in 2022, majoring in Painting. She has exhibited her work in the Young Artists Exhibition at Alhamra Lahore in 2019 and 2020. She has showcased her work in a group show at Tagheer Art Gallery, Lahore. She was part of a group show “Asli Contemprorary” at Numaish Gah, Lahore. She also was part of a four-person show “Fine China” at Artescape Gallery Islamabad. She exhibited in the show “Broadcast Volume 1” art O Art Space, Lahore. She was part of the show “In the realm of madness” at Gallery Full Circle Karachi. She exhibited in a group show at 8B2 Gallery Islamabad in January. Batool was part of a Inception Grant show 2024 and exhibited at Triveni Kala Sangam New Dehli, India.

Zhang Mengqi (she/her) is a filmmaker, choreographer and a founding member of the Folk Memory Project. Mengqi has made eleven feature-length documentaries, known as “Self-Portrait series”. Her films have been selected by Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Cinéma du Réel, Visions du Réel, and BFI London Film Festival. Her films won the “White Goose Award” in DMZ International Documentary Film Festival; “BIFF Mecenat Award” in Busan International Film Festival; “The Jean Vigo Prize for Best Director”; “The Youth Prize for Best Film” in Punto de Vista and “Best Feature Film” in Festival internacional de cine independiente de cosquín; “International Competition Award of Excellence” in Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.