Have You Ever Felt Unheard?
When I was a young girl, I was told to not daydream too much, to not be weird. I was told that girls are better when they don’t stand out. So I spent my youth holding back my imagination, ashamed to be a daydreamer and afraid of being called weird. I won’t anymore. I learned that what was being perceived as weird, is called creative. The daydreaming I was being shamed for, it’s called vision. Whaddya know, they are all the important aspects that go into my work now as theatre director and producer.
Oftentimes, words scar. We don’t realize the effect our words have on young women, even taking part in the ecosystem that debilitates women. It took me too long years to get out of it to feel ok in telling my own story. Not the story that my parents or society wants me to tell. My story.
There are millions of other young women whose stories are not heard simply because they believe that girls should not stand out. Millions don’t realize that their stories are worth being listened to. Let’s change that.
Hi, I am Fonnyta Amran. My friends call me Ipong. I am one of a few female theatre directors/producers in Indonesia. Recently I received a theatre directing scholarship from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (the World’s top 5 performing arts education) and the WM Mann Foundation Scholarship for the Arts to pursue a Master in Classical & Contemporary Theatre Directing in September 2022. I will be the first and only Indonesian theatre director ever accepted into the program.
I'm lucky enough to find a conducive environment where I can pursue my dreams and blossom into a theater director and producer. But I know not everyone is as lucky. And now I want to pay it forward by creating a BREAKING BARRIERS INITIATIVE. It's a space to empower Indonesian female creatives to collaborate, learn and network with other women of the performing arts.
As I am about to embark on my journey as the first Indonesian theater director to receive a scholarship at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, I see an opportunity to launch THE GIVING VOICES PROJECT (GVP) as the first project of BREAKING BARRIERS INITIATIVE. The GVP focuses on the playwriting aspect of creating a performing arts production, consisting of a new play development by emerging female writers and a series of playwriting workshops for young girls. Later on, the new play is also planned to be performed at the Edinburgh Festival, Scotland in 2023. And I need all the help I can get.
Please help in achieving this mission. You will be a big part of the development of the next generation of Indonesian creatives. Please support by donating. If you are intrigued, you can read more about my personal story and vision on the Breaking Barriers website.
Everyone can build barriers. I intend to break them. How about you?