Kalinga Tattoo, Markers of Identity: From Indigenous to Diasporic

[Christine Balmes]

Mark the date for the inaugural event in the

Kapwa Collective Speaker Series

Saturday, November 3, 2012

B A T O K - Kalinga Tattoo

Markers of Identity: From Indigenous to Diasporic

with Dr. Analyn Salvador-Amores 

(Anthropologist, University of the Philippines Baguio)

519 Church Street, Toronto, Ontario

6:00 PM Reception

7:00-9:00 PM Program

Narratives of tattooing journeys by three Filipina Canadians.

Installation art by Kristina Guison and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo.

Photographs by Ruel Bimuyag.

Academic talk by Dr. Analyn Salvador-Amores.

Free event. Donations welcome.

All proceeds go towards making Kapwa events inclusive and accessible.

Community support helps us facilitate links among academic, artistic, activist, and other communities in Toronto; and bridge narratives between the Indigenous and the Diasporic, and the Filipino and the Canadian.

Please join us on the journey:

http://kapwacollective.tumblr.com/events

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About Dr. Analyn ‘Ikin’ Salvador-Amores:

Dr. Salvador-Amores is a Social Anthropology professor at the University of the Philippines-Baguio. She has done research on Kalinga traditional tattoos in the diaspora. Other research interests include anthropology of the body, non-Western aesthetics, ethnicity and identity, colonial photography, visual anthropology, representation, textile research, material culture, death and funerary rituals, museum studies and anthropology of development, with a regional focus on Southeast Asia, specifically the Kalinga province in the Philippines. Dr. Salvador-Amores is the first Filipina scholar to graduate with a doctorate in Social and Cultural Anthropology at Hertford College, Oxford University. Read her work here: http://oxford.academia.edu/AnalynSalvadorAmores/Papers

About the Multimedia Artists:

“Sound Marks” is a mixed-media installation/performance piece by Kristina Guison, a Filipina Canadian visual artist currently studying Sculpture & Installation at OCAD University. Kristina explores different mediums ranging from tattoos, dye paintings, block prints, and acetate installations to candle sculptures. Learn more about Kristina’s work at http://kristinaguison.com/

“We Are Kapwa People” is an installation by Filipina Canadian multimedia artist Jo SiMalaya Alcampo in collaboration with LGBT/Queer Filipino Canadians and allies, exploring the sensual, sublime and spiritual symbolism of indigenous patterns and tattoos. Jo is an OCADU alumna whose art practice integrates storytelling, installation-based art, and electroacoustic soundscapes. Learn more about Jo’s work at http://www.josimalaya.com/

“Untitled” is a photography presentation of Cordillera landscapes and people by Ruel Bimuyag, an Ifugao photographer and Culture Bearer specializing in Ifugao chants, rhythms, dances, and instrumental musical pattern. He says, “Scholars on the Cordillera tend to predict the demise of our region’s indigenous cultures. I observe that our culture is alive, thriving and evolving. Through my photographs, I am building a ‘positive portfolio’, a testament of our indigenous cultures and to the depths of my roots.” Learn more about Ruel’s work at http://blauearth.com/tag/ruel-bimuyag/

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The Kapwa Collective is a group of Filipino Canadian artists, critical thinkers and healers who work across different academic and applied disciplines. We believe in the values of inclusivity and accessibility, and we work towards bridging narratives between the Indigenous and the Diasporic, and the Filipino and the Canadian. We facilitate links among academic, artistic, activist, and other communities in Toronto. 

The Kapwa Collective functions as a mutual support group based on the core value of “kapwa”. Virgilio G. Enriquez, known as the founder of Filipino Psychology or Sikolohiyang Pilipino initially proposed a concept of personhood centered on the core value expressed in the word “kapwa”. In the words of the scholar Katrin de Guia:

Kapwa is a Tagalog term widely used when addressing another with the intention of establishing a connection. It reflects a viewpoint that beholds the essential humanity recognizable in everyone, therefore linking (including) people rather than separating (excluding) them from each other. Enriquez felt that this orientation was an expression of ‘humanness at its highest level’.

- Kapwa: The Self in the Other, Worldviews and Lifestyles of Filipino Culture-Bearers, 2005

The members of the Kapwa Collective are: Jo SiMalaya Alcampo, Christine Balmes, Aimee Gomez, Jennifer Maramba, Mykelle Pacquing, and Kristen Sison.

Come learn with us.

Blog: kapwacollective.tumblr.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kapwacollective

Contact: kapwaco...@gmail.com

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