Jo is speaking on a panel at the Diasporic Intimacies conference on the topic of Sexuality, Collectivity and Indigeneity.  She will show work at the group art exhibition and participate in the artist's dialogue. 

All events are free: 
http://www.queerfilipinosincanada.ca/

Jo SiMalaya Alcampo is joining a group of Diaspora Dialogues authors for a day of readings at the secret Heritage Room, a crypt-like space underneath the Metropolitan United Church, as part of Doors Open Toronto.

They’ll read excerpts from their works, as well as selections of works that have been censored or banned, both at home and abroad, and speak about underground writing.  Gain access to this secret subterranean space and experience works — formerly or currently — buried by repressive governments, schools, and religious organizations the world over.

Readings all day, from 11 am – 4 pm. Check out DiasporaDialogues.com for the full list of authors.

When: Saturday, May 24
Time: 11 am – 4 pm
Where: Metropolitan United Church, 56 Queen Street East
Cost: Free!

Labour + LOVE is a celebration of Caregivers featuring storytelling, spoken word, and musical performances.

Kwentong Bayan in collaboration with CCESO (Caregiver Connections) will present stories from their comic book combined with live illustrations and audio soundscapes.

Special guests include Mahlikah Awe:ri, Lishai, Haniely Pableo, PANTAYO, Zak’isha Brown & Randell Adjei.

Kwentong Bayan: Labour of Love is a community based comic book project, created by Toronto-based artists Althea Balmes (illustrator) and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo (writer) in collaboration with caregivers and supporters, about the real life stories of Filipina migrant workers. Caregivers share how they resist the exploitative structure of the Live-in-Caregiver Program, while creating a community where they can care for their well-being.

Sunday May 11, 2014
2 pm - 5 pm
Beit Zatoun, 612 Markham Street
$5-10 PWYC admission, no one turned away at the door.
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible ramp at entrance, washrooms are not accessible

Co-presented by Beit Zatoun.  Co-sponsored by Neighbourhood Arts Network, Another Story Bookshop, and FADO Performance Art Centre

This event is part of the 29th annual Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts, taking place from May 1 - 15, 2014 at various GTA locations.  For more details on this year's program, artists, and festival partners, please visit www.mayworks.ca

Kapwa Collective members - Jen Maramba, Christine Balmes, and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo - will develop new work for Restless Precinct, a site-specific, group exhibition and performance series developed by curatorial collective SUM°, which involves a number of commissioned artworks by multiple artists working with land, identity and colonization. 

The site is situated in Scarborough's Guild Precinct, a park full of transplanted European facades.  www.restlessprecinct.ca

That's So Gay: On the Edge is a celebration of new projects created by LGBTTI2QQ artists about their experiences of disability, radicalization, class, and other intersectional experiences of identity.

The show attempts to interrupt the idea of a singular queer community, and reimagines what it means to talk about our lived experiences as artists from a diversity of backgrounds. Launched on the eve of World Pride 2014, the project necessarily responds to the construction of a  simplified “LGBT” community in Toronto as posited in the bid for hosting the festival.

As Toronto launches onto the world stage of LGBTTI2QQ activism, That’s So Gay: On the Edge will creatively explore difference through photography, performance, installation projects and large-scale works on paper.  Participating Artists: Jo SiMalaya Alcampo, Daryl James Bucar, Graham Kennedy, Anna Jane McIntyre, Hazel Meyer, Abdi Osman, Alvis Choi/Parsley, Elizabeth Sweeney, Jes Sachse, Rebeka Tabobondung, Mary Tremonte, Leah Lakshmi Piepsna-Samarasinha, Shimby Zegeye.  Curated by Syrus Marcus Ware.

Kapwa Collective Speakers Series
B N E K : S E E D S From Indigenous to Diasporic
June 2014 as part of TBOLIxTO

TBOLIxTO is a cultural exchange between the T’boli School of Living Traditions (Philippines) and communities in Toronto featuring  Kapwa Playshops on T'boli music, dance,  T'nalak Dreamweaving, a children's program and the Kapwa Speaker Series, BNEK:SEEDS From Indigenous to Diasporic. Visiting Artists, Maria Oyog Todi (Cultural Specialist), Barbara Buwat Ofong (Dreamweaver) and Andi Todi Wanan (Artist) will share knowledge about T’boli Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices through the arts.

S T A Y  I N F O R M E D
www.kapwacollective.tumblr.com
www.facebook.com/kapwacollective

I am honoured to be the new Playwright-in-Residence for
2014 - 2015 at Cahoots Theatre Company supported by Diaspora Dialogues.   Over the next year, I will develop my historical drama "Hilot Means Healer" set in WWII in the Philippines.  There will most certainly be Singing Plants.

I am grateful to Carlos Bulosan Theatre for helping me grow these stories in their Play Creation Unit.  Maraming Salamat/Many thanks for the community love and support. I look forward to creating interdisciplinary art together.  - jsa

November 11, 2013

Dear friends and kababayans,

Deepest condolences to all who are grieving the losses arising from Typhoon Yolanda, International name: Haiyan.

Thank you for reaching out with kindness and concern. I am part of a few collectives in Toronto and we are in the process of responding to the tragic events in the Philippines.  In the meantime, I recognize that immediate relief is needed in the most devastated areas.

Carlos Bulosan Theatre (CBT) in partnership with KAPISANAN and with special guests Kwentong Bayan proudly present Tales from the Flipside : Over Time, Overseas as part of the 8th Annual KULTURA Filipino Arts Festival.

Carlos Bulosan Theatre presents a retrospective sampling of their past works featuring the stories of Filipina caregivers working overseas in search of better lives for themselves and their families.

Kwentong Bayan:  Labour of Love is a community-based comic book project created by Althea Balmes (Illustrator) and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo (Writer) in close collaboration with Filipina migrant workers in the Live-in Caregiver Program. 
These are the stories that you don't see in mainstream media.  These are the stories that you won't find in most academic papers or research studies.   These are real-life stories of community and friendship, love and struggle, and women's empowerment.  

In the Filipino language, "kwentong bayan" is the literal translation of  "community stories" and our comic book project is rooted in love. 

Please visit our website to learn more: www.lcpcomicbook.com