Archive for the ‘Canada’ tag
Photos from the Mahal (2) Art Exhibit and 2012 Professionals Conference
Introducing the Mahal (2) Art Exhibit
In his essay Ang Pag-Ibig, Filipino revolutionary, Emilio Jacinto, writes that love is the promise of liberation and joy for a people in suffering.
The Tagalog word ‘mahal’ translates into ‘love.’ It refers to that which is dear, but also means expensive. Perhaps Jacinto’s promise of fulfillment is also a costly one.
Photography by Edsel Yu Chua and Deyan Denchev
Photos from the Mahal (2) Art Exhibit and 2012 Professionals Conference
(Usapan 2): Photos and Video from Monitoring Canadian Mining in the Philippines through Social Media
Photos from Usapan 2: Monitoring Canadian Mining in the Philippines through Social Media
A video of the presentation is soon to follow.
Video from Mobit at the Third People’s Mining Conference
You can follow Mobit Mindanao on:
Facebook: Mobit Mindanao
Twitter: mobit_cc
Youtube: MobitTV
Blog: Mobit Mindanao
Mobit Mindanao is looking for volunteers who can translate their blog posts from Bisaya to English. Please send an email to mobitmobit@gmail.com for details.
March 19 (Usapan 2) Monitoring Canadian Mining in the Philippines through Social Media
The UBC Philippine Studies Series
and the Liu Institute for Global Issues
present the fieldwork report
“Monitoring Canadian Mining in the Philippines through Social Media”
with Honey Mae Caffin, co-founder of the Mobit Project, and member of Canada-Philippine Solidarity for Human Rights
March 19, 2012, 11:00-12:30
Room 121, UBC Liu Institute for Global Issues
with an introduction on Canadian resource extraction and debates on the monitoring of Canadian mining operations by Dr. Philippe Le Billon, UBC Department of Geography
About the presentation: Foreign-controlled mining operations are aggressively claiming land in the Philippines, including ancestral indigenous territories in Southern Mindanao. This results in “bakwit”, or displacement, contributing to the loss of livelihood and cultural heritage, and the spread of poverty. There is also conflict developing between small-scale local miners and foreign-owned operations. In one area, a Philippine mining company has been acquired (80% ownership) by a Canadian mining corporation. The endeavour of the local people to organize a resistance movement has had little progress in the two years since the murder of one of the main organizers, which remains unresolved until today. This operation is controversial also due to the supposed mining ban (with 1,600 applications awaiting approval from the government).
Honey Mae Caffin will talk about her research visit to Mindanao, Philippines, in February 2012, to conduct a series of workshops on the potential of social media and mobile technologies in the monitoring of Canadian mining operations in the Southern Philippines. The goal of the first phase of the project is to inform the communities affected by mining operations of the potential of mobile technologies for reaching out to the public with their stories, and for monitoring the effects of mining in the region. This project is done in cooperation with the Panalipdan-Southern Mindanao, an alliance of organizations and individuals with a commitment to defend the region against environmental destruction caused by the government-sanctioned corporate exploitation of natural (mineral) resources.
About the Speaker: Honey Mae Caffin is co-founder of Mobit, a community-based mobile monitoring project designed to provide social media literacy and infrastructure to rural communities via mobile devices and internet connectivity. She is the founder of Design School for Girls, and also the principal consultant at Intertextual Design Communications. Her research and creative products are inspired by topics such as the feminized migration of labour, decolonizing methodology, aboriginal rights redress, object-oriented ecology, networked-learning, FLOSS/DIY culture, and social media strategies for cross-cultural communication, among others. She also works as the in-house graphic designer of UBC Press.
To RSVP or for more information, please email ubc.pss@gmail.com or visit the UBC PSS Facebook page. This presentation will be followed by a Reading Session.
March 19 Reading Session: Neferti Tadiar and Ruth Mabanglo
UBC Philippine Studies Series
Lunch-time Reading Session
Monday, March 19, 2012
12:30-2:00 pm (Bring your own lunch, coffee and snacks will be served)
at Room 121, UBC Liu Institute for Global Issues
Assigned Reading: Chapter 3 “Poetics of Filipina Export” in
“Things Fall Away: Philippine Historical Experience and the Makings of Globalization”
by Neferti Tadiar
Session Moderator:
Caroline Chingcuanco, UBC BA Political Science
Online access: http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=3993651
To RSVP, email ubc.pss@gmail.com
Please note that this event is preceded by a field work report on Canadian Mining Companies in the Philippines.
Participants are also invited to refer to the following selection of poems by Ruth Mabanglo which are heavily discussed in the assigned chapter.
Filipino Versions
Liham ni Pinay mula sa Singapore
Liham ni Pinay mula sa Australia
Liham ni Pinay mula sa Hongkong
English Translations
January 21 Events: Professional Conference+MAHAL exhibit
- Ed Nicolas, Professional Engineer, Contractor, Certified Home Inspector
- May Farrales, recently completed her MA, and now a PhD Student, at the UBC Department of Geography
- Mel Cruz, Certified General Accountant, Founding member of Association of Filipino General Accountants BC, 2011 President AFGA BC
- Kaiser Esquillo, UBC Food, Health, and Nutrition graduate
- Lawrence Santiago, UBC PhD Student, Department of Geography, Trudeau Scholar
- Dr. Leonora Angeles, Associate Professor, UBC School of Community and Regional Planning and the Women’s and Gender Studies Undergraduate Program
- Patrick Cruz, Emily Carr University Fine Arts Graduate, multi-disciplinary visual artist
Update: See photos from the event.
MAHAL Art Exhibit Documentation
MAHAL: an artistic exploration of the desires
which carry the filipina/o across borders
By Chaya Erika Go, UBC Anthropology (4th year, undergraduate)
To culminate a series of events organised by the UBC Philippine Studies Series with guest lecturer, Dr Vicente L. Rafael, an art exhibit entitled MAHAL was held at the YACTAC gallery from October 28 to November 4, 2011. The name of the exhibit was inspired as such: In his book White Love (2000), Vicente L. Rafael considers the Filipino word ‘mahal’ as a translation for the word ‘love’. It refers to that which is dear, but also means valuable and expensive. Rafael writes that such ambiguities express love as a promise of fulfilment –and a costly one.
Artists were invited to submit their interpretations of what constitutes such desires, and what a ‘border’ signifies relating to their reflections on Filipino transnationals. Both as a co-curator and a participating artist in MAHAL, this paper is written as a post-exhibit reflective analysis of the processes I engaged with in this project: (1) interpreting the theme as expressed in the submissions, (2) designing the space to narrate the whole collection, and (3) witnessing the dynamic ways a Filipino transnational community is re-created in Vancouver through MAHAL. This paper is structured in these three sections accordingly. The reflections conveyed in this paper come from my own direct experiences, which are then interwoven with analyses put forward by Filipino artists and scholars of transnationalism. Through discussions with my co-curator, and conversations with artists and guests, this paper attempts to be inclusive of the wide variety of experiences created by MAHAL, but is careful not to claim authority over these individual experiences.
Photos by Deyan Denchev
Counterspin Conference: Taking Root and Building a Home
Website and for more info:
http://counterspin2.tumblr.com/
The UBC Philippine Studies Series in collaboration with the Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians presents “Counterspin: Taking Root and Building a Home” on JUN 18 (Sat, 9-5pm) and JUN 19 (Sun 9-1pm) a two day academic conference about settlement and migration sponsored by the Liu Institute for Global Issues.
As a continuation of the first Counterspin titled “Towards a just and genuine settlement and integration: Link arms and unite for freedom,” held in the City of Montreal on April 30th until May 1st of 2010, women, workers, and youth, from the Filipino Canadian community, will once again gather to deepen and strengthen their resolve to realize their community’s entitlements of fully participating in the broader Canadian society as makers of history and as a people for social transformation.
Organized by the nationally formed organizations housed under the Kalayaan (Freedom) Centre in Vancouver, The Magkaisa (Unity) Centre in Toronto, and the Kapit Bisig (Link Arms) Centre in Montreal, the two-day conference will usher in a new phase in the rich history of educating, mobilizing, and organizing work in the Filipino Canadian community.
Featured Speakers are:
Ninotchka Rosca: feminist, novelist, recipient of the American Book Award (1993)
Dr. Geraldine Pratt: Professor of Geography, Associate Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies, UBC
Arlene Oropel: Board Member of SIKLAB (Filipino Migrant Workers Organization)
Cecilia Diocson: Executive Director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada
Neil Castro: Chairperson of the National Alliance of Filipino Youth in Canada
A Solidarity Night with dinner and cultural performances will be held on Saturday (Jun 18) 7pm @ Simply Delicious Galleria and Sushi Lounge (4316 Main Street, Vancouver)
RSVP @ Counterspin Conference: Taking Root and Building a Home
Unang Proyekto (First Project)
Pretty in Pink. Bright colors cover the front walls of shanties in Metro Manila, in a futile attempt by the local government to mask the "eyesore" of unregulated urban housing.
Initial Event: Meeting with Philippine Studies Collaborators in Vancouver
Date: 4-6pm, March 4, 2011