ArtSpeak Online: Documenting Ourselves

This panel discussion will focus on the learnings of Kamustahan Art Projects on Filipino migrant workers’ struggle for self-representation and in/visibility both in their host countries and at home.

In Kamustahan Art Projects, visual artists worked together with Filipino migrant workers’ grassroots organizations in the UK, Hongkong, and Taiwan to conceptualize online art workshops and public events. With the limitations brought by the pandemic, the workshop participants had to document their own artworks and performances within their private spaces. The artworks and performances produced from these events revealed the stories that are often untold when Filipino migrant workers are represented as mere victims or modern heroes of national development.

Through their art projects, they set up conversational spaces where they bring together Filipino migrant workers, their family members, artists, and activists across the diaspora. Art-making is seen here not just as a way to consolidate and present migrants’ testimonies to the public, but as a process that encourages “creative encounters” wherein difficult conversations surrounding migrants’ experiences before and during the pandemic can transpire.

Admission is free for this event. To register, please go to: bit.ly/AAG-DocumentingOurselves

For inquiries, please email us at aag@ateneo.edu.