ART EXHIBIT
The journey
to inclusion
Yakap/Pakay is a collection of artworks that capture the different narratives of the rightsholders supported by the Voice program. Every piece is a product of a collaboration between an Artist-Facilitator and the different rightsholders from the Voice grantee partners here in the Philippines.
Through a creative sharing process, participating rightsholders and artists-facilitators embarked on a journey of discovery, reflection, and action. Together, they explored different media of visual storytelling and used it in depicting their inclusion narratives and hopes.
Crafting the program for the creative workshop was a challenge at first given the diversity of background and exposure to art. In the end, this made for many interesting pieces after collaborating with each other.
It also lies in the composition of the artist-facilitators because it was intentional. Having a mix of queer artists, women, young people, filmmaker, activists as the collaborators gave a different take on the final outputs of the creative process.
Beauty in
diversity
“
Hayaan niyong yakapin kayo ng kanilang mga kwento na nagsisilbing paalala sa mga pakay natin patungo sa mas mabait, mapang-unawa at magandang mundo.
(Let their stories embrace you and may it serve as a reminder of our purpose towards a kind, understanding, and beautiful world.)
Prepared by
Yakap | Pakay Art Exhibit
Embracing Your Purpose
What does it mean to Embrace your Purpose?
This exhibit is the answer that the artists and rightsholders have created.
Playing on YAKAP (Embrace) as a form of inclusion and acceptance. PAKAY (Purpose) is a reminder of our advocacy to continue giving a voice to the voiceless through platforms such as this.
Using different media from painting, sculpture, art installations and digital art, the pieces, together with the stories behind them, wish to bring comfort and hope.
Towards Inclusion for All
As you look through the pieces, we ask you to read the descriptions carefully to immerse yourself in the stories behind each art piece.
We hope that the stories evoke wonder, curiosity, inspiration, empathy, and compassion.
If you can, please help us spread the word by posting your experience online or by sharing what made an impact on you with your friends and family after the exhibit. So we can create more inclusive stories towards a day where no one will be left behind.
Seeing Through: Beyond Vision
Acrylic on Canvas
Taking inspiration from the braille slate, a masterpiece entitled “Seeing Through: Beyond Vision” emerged. This Artwork was painted with passion, joy and love by a collective of first-time artists who happened to be People with Disabilities (PWDs). This vibrant painting invites its viewers to see through their daily lives in a world where diversity, resilience and creativity converge.
The final output also resembles a window where as one peeks through, a profound sense of inclusivity and celebration of individuality unfolds. Each brushstroke and every box in the painting tells a unique story about challenges, dreams, determination, and triumphs each of them had personally experienced in theri fight towards inclusion. All these small paintings combined symbolizes the interconnectedness of their individual human experiences creating a bigger masterpiece that celebrates their sense of community and shared humanity.
“Seeing Through: Beyond Vision” is more than just and art work. It is a testament that creativity exists in each individual and that art is a universal language that transcends physical challenges and limitations. It is call to celebrate the beauty that emerges when diversity, inclusivity and creativity intertwine.
What’s Ours is Mined
Acrylic on Clay
Ancestral domain has been one of the biggest issues indigenous groups face across countries. In the Philippines, however, it has been cause for massacres an military-directed violence towards indigenous people (IP) so that their ancestral domain may be used by foreign companies to farm non-organic crops and products such as corn, bananas and palm oil that threatens not only the local industry of the respective IPs but also threatens the soil richness and in turn the ecosystem in these mountains.
In harsher situation, ancestral lands are mined for fossil fuel, precious ores and gold even if the amount mined or fracked it little compared to the environmental issues and impact it creates. This cause the lands to erode and the mineral composition of our mountains to deteriorate causing loss of inhabitable land, landslides, and rivers and nearby seas polluted due to byproducts if the mining operations.
This piece seeks to show the wight of there activities affect the lives and livelihood of indigenous Filipinos who serve not just as cultural keepers but environmental defenders as well.
Aray
Illustration Board and Wire
Aray is an artwork meant to confront the viewers into getting a look into the struggles faced by people that are fighting for their various advocacies in hopes to achieve things like safety and security, policies, participation in governance, access to health, and economic opportunities.
The barbed wire symbolizes the things that prevent us from achieving these goals.
Diversity Tree
Wire and Beads
The diversity tree is inspired by the experiences of those in the LGBTQIA+ Rightsholder groups.
The tree symbolizes the oneness of the community and how through standing we are stronger as we fight for our specific advocacies. The branches express the individual stories of the various artists and the way these come together showcases the bonds that create the community.
Organization: GAYON Albay, AKMK, IMGLAD, CYAN
Ang Pag-ibig ni Marlene (Marlene’s Love)
Acrylic on Canvas
“Para sa akin, ang pag ibig ay mahalaga. Tinutulungan ko ang maraming tao mula sa ibat’t iba nilang problema. Tinuruan ko silang maging mapag-mahal at marunong magpahalaga sa bawat isa, magsama-sama at magtulungan sa kabila ng maraming problema. Lalo na at marami sa amin ang kumakaharap sa mga kaso dahil sa aming pagpursigi sa tunay na kasagutan sa bulwagan ng katarungan.”
(For me, love is important. I help many people with their various problems. I taught them to be loving and know how to value each other, to come together and work together. Especially that many of us are facing charges because of our pursuit of justice and our rights.)
Organizations: Advocates for Human Rights in Aurora Province
Elsie’s Shield
Acrylic on Canvas
This artwork portrays a young mother who has faced teenage pregnancy and abuse yet she strives to protect and empower other young mothers, children and youth.
Having personally experienced this challenges, she aims to transform lives and prevent/protect others from going though the hardships she endured. Reflecting the wounds portrayed in the artwork, she aims to address those scars and shield others from enduring similar hardships. She aspires to heal and shield others.
Empowering them to be stronger and confident in line and claiming rights, making decisions, and the ability to do things. Through her experience, she aims to be their VOICE and SHIELD.
Organization: Yakap sa Kaunlatan ng Bata, Inc.
Kagawasan
Acrylic on Canvas
This piece was mainly inspired by the journey of IDEALS.
The image depicts the journey of the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) to liberation from an exploitative multi-national company. Since their release from the onerous contracts with them, the elderly farmers have ventured into sustainable enterprise growing and selling organic Cardava bananas.
Organization: Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS), Inc.
Tuklod
Acrylic on Canvas
The stone box represents problems such as poverty, bullying, discrimination, violence, abuse, and stress.
As one of the participants shared during the workshop:
“Now I have learned from my experience and I have gradually built myself to be strong, be creative, to think positive, to let go of your part and look for what you like, so that you can be good and able enough when you push for your dreams.”
A Home Without a Roof
Yarn Woven on Weaving Loom
The artwork features a calming sea-inspired palette created with woven yarn. The artwork symbolizes the soothing nature of the sea. The piece reflects how gazing at the ocean instills a sense of calm and assurance that everything will be alright.
The shades of blue in the yarn represent the tranquil hues of the sea. The artwork metaphorically portrays the ocean as a home without a roof, where families gather strength, start anew, and weave their dreams for a brighter future. The weave signifies coming together and creating something meaningful, echoing the resilience and hope in the vast sea.
Limbo
Mixed Media on Canvas
The artwork is a representation of the struggles of women survivors, refugees, and asylum seekers. The canvas is circular and has lines of melted glue gun and fine sand, painted mostly in black with a few specks of red. The black color represents a feeling of hopelessness, while the red color symbolizes the tireless efforts of the survivors to create a better future for themselves. The light at the center represents a glimmer of hope in the midst of the tragic situation. The piece aims to convey the feeling of being stuck and uncertain, taking one step forward and two steps back. It showcases the struggle to find hope amidst adversity.
Dag-Om
Art Installation
The picture visualizes the threats, injustice and risks that Agrarian Reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Leyte are experiencing, particularly, the elders and their youth heirs brought by powerful and influential landlords and farmer-intruders who wants to take over the lands that were supposed for them (ARBs).
Elder ARBs are being threatened to position their farmlands/CARP-awarded lands and have been fighting for their land rights for the longest time or worse, spend a lifetime fighting. These situations create an adverse impact to their youth heirs to the point that they pull themselves away from what’s supposed to be their responsibility being the second liner to their parents or ancestors. But despite the adversities, hope is still alive in the hearts of the farmers through the eyes of their youths and the belief that one day, maybe not today, justice will be served and this narrative will be changed.
Organization: Ormoc-Kananga Leyte Farmers Federation (ORKALEFF)
Restoration
Wire and Abaca String
The artwork was inspired by the stories of the different support systems given to the Marawi siege women survivors, refugees, and asylum seekers. The roots represent the support given to the survivors and refugees. The hands that reach upward represent the empowered choices they make for a better future.
The trees standing together represent how support systems help each other. It shows the interconnectedness of the systems as a network of strength and protection
Upward
Art Installation (Scrap Wood Pieces and Beads)
This sensory ladder installation aims to offer a compelling story of inclusion, challenges, and triumphs of the human spirit. It is a metaphor for the journey of each person with disability thriving to climb towards inclusion - with each step representing a need to achieve Compassion, Opportunity, Access, Respect, and Love.
A ladder can trigger fear for many persons with disabilities but the installation symbolizes overcoming obstacles. It also depicts opportunities for innovation, growth, and change. This is an invitation to see beyond physical challenges and to appreciate that disability does not define capability.