Event Date: November 6, 2026 - 1:00pm to 3:00pm
Location: FSS 4006, 120 University Private, University of Ottawa

Presented by CIPS

Creative Resistance is an interactive multimedia presentation exploring how people in Burma have used art, music, humour, storytelling, faith and community action to confront authoritarianism and sustain solidarity since the 2021 military coup. Drawing on interviews, stories and experiences gathered through the Insight Myanmar Podcast, Joah McGee looks at the ways creative expression can document life under military rule, challenge authoritarian narratives, preserve memory, maintain connections across communities, and help people imagine different futures.

The presentation also looks beyond what is being created to consider how stories from Burma are documented, communicated and received among people inside the country, across the diaspora, and by international audiences. This opens into a wider discussion about the ethics of storytelling and representation, including who gets to tell these stories, whose voices are amplified or overlooked, and both the possibilities and limitations of storytelling as a form of political and community action.

Speaker:

Joah McGee is the founder and host of the Insight Myanmar Podcast and founder of Better Burma. He lived and worked in Burma for nearly two decades, and since launching Insight Myanmar in 2019 has conducted long-form interviews documenting the country’s political, social, cultural and spiritual landscape. Following the 2021 military coup, the platform broadened considerably to document Burma’s contemporary crisis and amplify voices from across the country and diaspora. His work also extends into multimedia storytelling and humanitarian engagement through Better Burma.

Chair:

André Laliberté is a Full Professor at the School of Political Studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Research Co-Chair in Taiwan Studies at the University of Ottawa.