episode five. Hope as Resistance: Aaran Sian on Urgent Dreaming, Belonging and Collective Futures

Written By Fiona OBrien

Dreaming isn’t woo-woo it’s survival. In this conversation, artist, storyteller and community-rooted dreamer Aaran Sian takes us deep into the power of imagination as resistance.

From urgent dreaming to soft scaffolding, bat signals to magic earrings, we explore how creativity alchemises pain into power, how community holds us when the world doesn’t, and why imagining better futures is both radical and necessary.

Aaran’s work imagines speculative futures for queer and trans people of colour, reclaiming stories of the past to build liberated futures. Along the way, we ask: what does it mean to dream together, to belong, to care, and to resist through joy?

In this episode:
🔥 Dreaming as a radical act of survival
🔥 Queer and trans joy as resistance
🔥 The power of soft scaffolding + holding space
🔥 Reclaiming the past to imagine liberated futures
🔥 Creativity as connection + community care
 

🎙️ Hosted by ⁠Helen Trickey⁠ and ⁠Fi O'Brien⁠
👀 Watch or listen to the full episode now.

Follow: @aarancyan
More on: aarancyan.org

Listen or Watch the full episode below or follow us on Spotify or YouTube.

Fiona OBrien

CREATIVE DIRECTION, TREND FORECASTING AND STORYTELLING SPECIALIST.

Fi is a Creative Brand Consultant with 25 years of experience shaping disruptive, culturally-driven brands. She founded a Melbourne café that became a movement, championing Oz hip hop, street artists, and indie creatives, cementing her belief in the power of culture to build community. As the former co-founder and creative force behind Girls Who Grind Coffee, she challenged industry norms through bold storytelling and equity-driven branding. Library of Hope is an extension of everything she’s built, a space where creativity becomes an active force for change, shaping tangible visions of a better future.

https://www.fiobrien.com
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episode four. From Jelly to Joy: Sam Bompas on Why Feeling More Might Just Change Everything