Kismuth is set to host several new events in real life for those who are curious, open-minded, and ready for a fresh new way of getting acquainted with those whose paths you might not have otherwise crossed. I now offer a series of opportunities in different spaces in the city for you to engage with me, and a few others. Small circles. Here and there in the quietest parts of Phnom Penh.
I’ve not done these in real life for quite some time. Owing to the pandemic, of course, and also a trend away from real-life conversations, too, I feel. Makes sense. Who really wants to get out there and meet new people when it’s so much simpler to… not. Yet, yet. I am ready to reconvene in a very small, social distanced way, with those who would be interested in resuming conversation salons with me. I mean, it doesn’t have to be a major production. Nothing big. Low-key is my preference. Informal and more engaging.
I like small parties, now. Better yet, conversations that are round and not square, with people interested in hearing and sharing new perspectives with one another. I think the old days of big parties where you might bump into someone and have a great connection are over, for me. They take energy, time, and attention. I prefer to focus on just a handful, and create magnificent conversation salons that help us get to talking deeply about what matters to us in those moments, instead. Could be a response to the way that the everything-now culture has felt, to me, rather shallow. Or reading Society of the Spectacle in bits, from time to time. In which Debord predicts what we are living today. Reality, he says, gets hijacked by a stream of illusions.
I don’t want a stream of illusions. I want laughter, banter, conviviality, and fun. I want regularity without obligation, connection without expectation, and the low-key variety of ‘hanging out’ that doesn’t require documentation of the moment to put on social media. I don’t. Want that.
My stuff is more like 1990s stuff, with the nice updates we have in this era with regards to more equality and freedom and rights and expressiveness and ‘all things go’ and stuff. I like that part of now, more.
See a different, quieter side of Phnom Penh
Get to know me and a side of Phnom Penh I’ve been enjoying since I got here. Creative, relaxed, connective, and conversational. That’s what I like, that’s what I’ve found, and that’s where I’ll show you, too. I’m in Phnom Penh, at the moment. So I’ll start right where I am to bring people together for meaningful conversations again, here.
In this city I am already meeting new people, and a few seem keen on this idea of super low-key curated conversation spacemaking. We need space for real life, some say to me. It’s great that you can get us all talking. I say, that’s what everyone who knows me tells me is my gift. That’s what I’m good at. I remember a few really fun ones in Phnom Penh. ‘Math & Jazz’, ‘Hello August,’ ‘Origin’ on two separate occasions, ‘Rooftop Philosophy in Phnom Penh’ on four or six… and… and what else was there. It’s been a while. Let’s start a fresh page, now.
