Please join Kwentong Bayan Collective for our first solo exhibition: BALIKBAYAN at the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre from January 24th to April 21st, 2018.
The exhibition BALIKBAYAN features a visual timeline of the 150+ year history of caregiving in Canada by racialized women, and Balikbayan box sculptures that contain migration and labour stories. In the Filipino language, “balik” means “to return” and “bayan” can mean “country, place, home, or town”.
The exhibition BALIKBAYAN features a visual timeline of the 150+ year history of caregiving in Canada by racialized women, and Balikbayan box sculptures that contain migration and labour stories. In the Filipino language, “balik” means “to return” and “bayan” can mean “country, place, home, or town”.
Since the 70’s, the labour export policy of the Philippine government has forced Overseas Filipino Workers to work abroad to provide for their families. An average of 6,000 workers leave the Philippines each day. One way they maintain a connection with their loved ones is to send home balikbayan boxes packed with items that symbolize their labour and care.
BALIKBAYAN will transform WAHC into a gathering place to listen to migrant worker stories. In a series of gatherings, workers from Hamilton and Toronto will participate in a healing soup circle, create storytelling wearables, and plant native seeds. At each gathering, folks can create their own pasalubong (gifts) to take home and share with others.
Visit <http://wahc-museum.ca/event/kwentong-bayan-balikbayan> for updates on program offerings presented alongside BALIKBAYAN, including two PA Day camps and a comic jam for ages 12 and up.
This exhibition and its auxiliary programs are generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des Arts du Canada, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the Hamilton Community Foundation.
BALIKBAYAN will transform WAHC into a gathering place to listen to migrant worker stories. In a series of gatherings, workers from Hamilton and Toronto will participate in a healing soup circle, create storytelling wearables, and plant native seeds. At each gathering, folks can create their own pasalubong (gifts) to take home and share with others.
Visit <http://wahc-museum.ca/event/kwentong-bayan-balikbayan> for updates on program offerings presented alongside BALIKBAYAN, including two PA Day camps and a comic jam for ages 12 and up.
This exhibition and its auxiliary programs are generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des Arts du Canada, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the Hamilton Community Foundation.
