Markings of Remembrance
Markings of Remembrance was a collaboration between myself and April Knauber that engaged a form of Filipino storytelling through abstract patterns found in ancestral body art, or tatak (among many other names). By connecting with stateside practitioners, ancestral objects, colonial-era manuscripts and contemporary texts, our aim was to create space for collective remembrance and understanding of an artform nearly lost to hundreds of years of religious and political subjugation of the indigenous peoples of the islands now known as the Philippines. Markings of Remembrance convened a cohort of Filipinos who researched their lineage and shared their findings and personal experiences with one another, continuing a long tradition of cultivating collective memory through oral history, while learning about the archetypal symbols central to various Filipino tattoo traditions.
Markings of Remembrance was made possible with a Power Plant Grant, awarded by Big Car Collaborative and funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and with an Artist Ambassador Travel Grant, awarded by Central Indiana Community Foundation and funded by the Margot L. Eccles Arts & Culture Fund and the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation.
Thank you to Philip Smith and the Philippine Cultural Community Center for providing space for us to connect with one another and others within our community.