JK from Sipat Lawin Ensemble had 8 seconds to tell us about their major fiesta event, Mahal Kita Future Bayan, which was held at Blacktown Arts Centre in September 2017.
About Mahal Kita Future Bayan
Mahal Kita Future Bayan was a day-long community festival inspired by popular Filipino fiesta traditions. Set in a collectively imagined tomorrow-nation, it gathered different communities within and beyond Blacktown to enliven the possibility of a joyful co-existence.
Our community gathered as “kapwa” (people of shared identity) in a borderless “tahanan” (home) that nurtures and pursues “pagma-mahal-an” (love).
By creating conversations with Filipino communities through a series of curated performance activations, Mahal Kita Future Bayan used performance and story-telling to disrupt the usual “tiyangge” (flea market) and fiestas celebrated by Filipinos in Australia. Through this fiesta, Sipat Lawin Ensemble introduced a platform for exchange and collective envisioning of the current state of Filipino identity, which is caught in the middle of a morphing diaspora.
This project considered the language, meanings and interpretations of the words “Mahal” (love, expensive), “Kita” (for you/from me to you), and “Future Bayan” (nation).
With the global phenomenon of migration, free movement, cultural appropriation, and fluid borders, this project put a premium on the ideals of openness, togetherness and inclusivity. This value system shapes current and future concept of the Filipino identity, which paints the collective imagination of the Future Bayan.
Collaborators:
JK Anicoche • Sarah Salazar • Perky Parong • Adrienne Vergara • Kulay Labitigan • Teresa Barrozo • Stephen Biadoma • Brandon Relucio • Daniel Darwin • Christopher Aronson • Paschal Daantos Berry • John Dinamarca • Paul Howard • Maria Mitar • Jenny Bisset • Jake Atienza • Jade Cadeliña • Kenneth Moraleda • Happy Ferraren • Kerwin Datu • Marco Cuevas-Hewitt • Ana Asinas • Sabrina Gacad • Marikit Santiago • Bhenji Ra • Justin Shoulder • Alwin Reamillo • Leizel Igadna • Lina Cabaero • Jane Corpuz-Brock • Neila Sumcad • Ramt Trinidad • Michelle Baltazar • Nikki Kennedy • Eric Fortaleza • Maria Singh • Kath Cheko • Naty Millarez • Migrante Kultura • Migrante New South Wales • Philippine Australian Community Services Inc (PACSI)