It's been a hot minute since the last time I posted here. Quick recap, for the one year and 4 month since I've written: Kapwa Collective has successfully hosted three women who are T'boli people from Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, Philippines for a month long stay in Toronto (T'boli X Toronto) in which they were able to give presentations, meet First Nations leaders and build relationships with our communities here; also Kapwa Collective had our month-long installation in Scarborough's Guild Park as part of Restless Precinct; our all-women collective Pantayo has played several fun events, including Taking Place Concert | Whippersnapper Gallery, Labour + LOVE: A Celebration of Caregivers, part of Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts and Les Rues des Refusés. As for me, I am happily working full time as a settlement worker, serving newcomers to Toronto, and helping them connect with services, resources, and privileges afforded to people who live in this beautiful, vast country. It seems that I have taken a leave from living in my mind to live in the world, and although my blogging has been neglected, I find myself in a happy place in my life. It's always interesting to go back to personal writings from some time ago and see how much I've changed. I've been out of Academia for two years now, and have only recently began reconsidering returning. The thoughts and insecurities that I've had in the past about my belonging in that place certainly helped me to get out and change my path. Now I am certain that--at least in Canada--I would rather apply theory than help create it; though I liked engaging with it as a student. Now, though, I've been asked to participate in a (art and design) university symposium on the contributions of LGBTQ Filipinos in the Diaspora as a "community worker, performer, and artist" and although the presentation could be a performance, dialogue, or paper, I can't help but reflect about my work so far, and to try to think about it in an academic sort of way. I learned a little bit from my friends and kapwa Jen Maramba and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo about creating art for the public through Kapwa Collective's participation in Restless Precinct, where we worked together to create the Kulintang Healing Garden. I learned through them that art-making is the process of brainstorming and working together to birth an idea (or several), adapting to the problems at hand, and using creative resources to meet problems within a certain time period. Finding solutions creatively could even mean bringing in other people to work with. I have no idea why this sounds like a Project Management guide. But, essentially, the core of our work is in constantly giving space to and trusting each other's ideas and skills, but also ensuring that we are doing the same for ourselves. It was a real pleasure to travel to the Guildwood Park together (as our project was site-specific) and spend time there with ourselves and the space. Jen taught me that the earth vibrates in different ways according to what's underneath our feet. I walked barefoot on the earth to feel how solid and steady it was on the Bluffs, and I felt like an organ for inner listening was introduced to me. We came up with some ideas about how to incorporate the kulintang gongs in our work, and the best solution we thought of, based on our skill sets, was to create paper mache pots. I went to the studio regularly to work on these paper mache pots with Jo, who taught me that it was good to continue with what you have come up with is the best solution to a problem, until you discover a better one. That ended up to be something that happened serendipitously. While working on this project, I happened to mention it to my friend, Robeco, who is an entrepreneur and engineer (he worked with me with Pinoy Culture). He reminded me that his current project is to work on living walls, where plants are placed in modular pots on a wall....anyway, collaborating with him is how we came up with the iconic Kulintang Healing Garden
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Words, images, & fripperies by Christine Balmes unless otherwise stated. Archives
November 2014
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