YAO GIOIELLO, Lulu (ed.)
FAR-NEAR Volume Five: Divergence

What we choose to idolize says a lot about who we are. Vol. 5 is an ode to divergent voices — artists who follow their gut even in the face of ridicule, who express passionate outcries of love despite opposition. We visit Mongolian singer Urna Chahar-Tugchi living in a remote town in Italy, revisit the beauty and strength of LGBT icon Akihiro Miwa, explore desire and gender in South Asia inspired by Pakistani film Joyland, peer into the traveling circuses of Xi’an through Xiangjie Peng’s photography, listen to Uzbek and Filipino independent music scenes and more.

Among those featured in this book are photographers: Ayoto Ataraxia, Yuhan Cheng, Liberto Fillo, Rob Frogoso, Hassan Kurbanbaev, Ali Monis Naqvi, Keith Oshiro, Xiangjie Peng, Kamila Rustambekova, Saturn, Motoyuki Shitamichi, Irene Tang, Vivek Vadoliya; filmmakers: Phạm Ngọc Lân and Miko Revereza; artists: Bella Carlos, Christina Yuna Ko, Teng Yung Han, Dmitriy Hashhayan, Anchi Lin [Ciwas Tahos], Thai Lu, Alicia Mersy, Urara Muramatsu, Daleen Saah, Camily Tsai and Tseng Kwong Chi; writers: Lucinda Chua, Ariana King, Lin King, Lisa Kwon, Lisa Tanimura, Jiji Wong, Xiao Yumi w/ Wang Da, Mia Winther-Tamaki and Mimi Zhu; musicians: Amalia, Timur Azimov, Urna Chahar-Tugchi, Enji Erkhem, Saru Jadid, Yaikhom Sushiel, Chris Fussner (Tropical Futures), Josef Tumari and Jorge Wieneke; and actors: Rasti Farooq and Akihiro Miwa. With interviews by Clara Peh, CJ Salapare, Sreshtha Sen and Lulu Yao Gioiello.

Each book comes with a zine by Urara Muramatsu, two inserts by Christina Yuna Ko and Alicia Mersy and a fold out dust jacket poster. [publishers’ note]

Published by FAR-NEAR, 2024
Periodicals / Scenes