Maleta
Filipino-Canadians Expose Untold Stories of Forced Migration in Groundbreaking Visual Arts Project
9 August 2007
Vancouver, B.C. – A local Filipino cultural group is currently conducting a groundbreaking visual arts project aimed at exposing the realities of forced migration. Maleta [suitcase in Pilipino]was launched last month in collaboration with Gallery Gachet, a local gallery in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Maleta will gather 15-20 aspiring young Filipino artists from across the Lower Mainland with other visual artists from Montreal and the Philippines. Through workshops and peer critiques, these artists will mount a public art exhibition at the Gallery Gachet in October 2007.
“Maleta seeks to creatively expose the untold stories of our community’s migration to Canada through art,” says Sean Parlan, Sinag Bayan Cultural Arts Collective Coordinator and a graphic designer in Vancouver. “Though we are one of the fastest growing communities in Canada, we are also economically and socially marginalized. Our stories of migration – embedded with rich images of struggle and filled with questions about who really benefits from migration – are invisible in Canadian society,” adds Parlan.
A recent profile of the Filipino community by Statistics Canada confirmed that the Filipino community is the third largest non-European ethnic group in Canada. The study also confirmed that Filipinos earn less than the national average, despite being much more likely to have a university degree than the rest of the population.
“The image of the maleta is a powerful symbol of the Filipino people’s too-common experience of poverty and forced migration to over 190 countries around the world,” noted Parlan. He expressed confidence that the project will generate awareness amongst Canadians about why such a global phenomenon is occurring.
“Maleta will engage the Canadian public in an active —and sometimes challenging — dialogue about the impacts of forced migration.” Parlan promises. “It’s a shame that these too-common stories don’t fit the mold of Canada’s multicultural policies and programs. In sharing these vibrant stories of migration we can expose our true experiences and that of other immigrants.”
Sinag Bayan Cultural Arts Collective uses poetry, song, performance and visual arts to educate and raise awareness about the issues that face the Filipino community. Aside from this effort with Gallery Gachet, Sinag Bayan has performed for audiences at the Firehall theatre, Vancouver East Cultural Centre and the Vancouver Folkfest, and recently at the Drive Days on Commercial drive.
