S1 Ep4: Breakwater (Youngsook Choi and Taey Iohe) and Cường Phạm – Becoming Forest: Autumn Episode

Becoming Forest is a collaborative endeavour between the artist duo Breakwater (Youngsook Choi and Taey Iohe) and the radio producer, curator, activist Cường Phạm. 

The project considers mental wellbeing as a collective responsibility, focusing on the detrimental impact of Covid-19 and the spike of anti-Asian racism upon the mental health of Southeast and East Asian diasporas, refugees, and precarious migrants in the UK. Drawing upon Frantz Fanon’s seminal observation on the relationship between colonial oppression / violence and mental illness, this project conceptualises collective healing as performing justice.

This is the final episode series following the four seasons, taking a slightly different form whereby the music is the focus of the episode. Friends were invited to share a song that holds profound meaning to them and to talk through why it is special to them. As friends of Becoming Forest radio are speaking, Indonesian Songbirds can be heard in the background.

Thank you to those who have joined in holding this space of comfort and communal solidarity

This episode is bookmarked by two moments of departure and return. At the opening, you will hear a conversation, relatively mundane, between Cường and his great aunt, they were both walking through her leafy suburb on the outskirts of Hanoi, from many years ago. It was from a period when his time in Hanoi was coming to an end, and was readying himself to return to London. 

The episode closes with a moment with Cường and his young family after nearly three years of being away. An intimate everyday and benign moment around the breakfast table. This was a subtle way to highlight how Covid-19 disproportionately affects migrants from the Global Majority countries, where a whole host of factors have prevented many from returning, whether that be visa precarity, limitations related to Covid-19, distance and cost prohibitive factors amongst others.

Episode Track List

Sun Sleeps - Words Like Swords
Lê Cát Trọng Lý - Introduce Mùa Xuân
The Boom - 島唄 (オリジナル・ヴァージョン)
Kim Choo-ja 김추자 - 거짓말이야
Lorie - Ngayon At Kailanman (Now and Forever) [Karaoke Ver]
Moonstar 88 - Migraine
Sugarfree - Kwarto
Victor Hutabarat - O Tano Batak
Nova - O Tano Batak
Trần Mạnh Tuấn - Quê Hương
Vincent Yuen Ruiz - Sunrise Mart
Various Artists - Song Birds of Indonesia - Murai Batu (Juara)
Various Artists - Song Birds of Indonesia - Pok Say
Various Artists - Song Birds of Indonesia - Daicu
Various Artists - Song Birds of Indonesia - Cendet #2
Various Artists - Song Birds of Indonesia - Cucak Ijo
Various Artists - Song Birds of Indonesia - Punglor Kembang (Kacek Kembang)
Various Artists - Song Birds of Indonesia - Kacerbang