"This comes from our story. Our people’s story. From our survival. Throughout all the atrocities we’ve had to endure, our people have always resisted. If you look at our history, every attempt at colonization has been met with a people’s resistance. I wanted to tap into where that spirit comes from – our collective soul, our kapwa."  - Jo SiMalaya Alcampo, Playwright

Thank you to Justine Abigail Yu for interviewing the Hilot Means Healer cast and crew for Intermission Magazine!  Read the full article

A full house viewed Theatre Amihan’s Fall 2019 Play Reading of the controversial classic “Tatarin, A Witches’s Sabbath in Three Acts,” by Filipino National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin at Artscape Wychwood Barns on September 30th.

“More than the grammar of performance, we want to offer an intimate and informal play reading series to showcase diverse Filipino plays and works" explained Theatre Amihan’s co-founder Maddie Bautista.

In the post-discussion comparing Tatarin to the forthcoming production “Hilot means Healer,” soon to be premiered in Toronto October 5 to 27, 2019 playwright and guest artist Jo SiMalaya Alcampo said the presence of the mythical balete tree also figures in her play set in the last days of the Japanese Occupation in Manila.

“The babaylan tending a magical garden of indigenous trees and plants to provide healing and nurturing is central to our prehistoric culture and has been passed on through generations of colonization and conquest.”

As well, said Alcampo, the role of women in pre- and post-colonial Philippines is highlighted by their often leading role in indigenous-based rites and traditions.

Read more in the Philippine Inquirer article by Patty Rivera

Please join us for Re-Imagining Stories of Care Work - a collaborative storytelling and audio-visual art performance about the invaluable contributions of migrant caregivers to Canada’s social, economic, and political past, present and future.

Collaborative storytelling by Caregiver Connections, Education & Support Organization (CCESO) and audio-visual art performance by Kwentong Bayan Collective (Althea Balmes and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo) With support from Karen Ancheta, Storyteller/Facilitator and Leon Aureaus, Artistic Director, Carlos Bulosan Theatre. Presented by the Myseum Intersections Festival.

Kwentong Bayan Collective is honoured to announce our 1st international exhibition, opening March 3rd at la Ferme du Buisson in France. We will share work on the current issues, history, and future of Care Work in Canada by Black, Indigenous and Racialized women.

Take Care
March 3 – July 21, 2019
la Ferme du Buisson
Allée de la Ferme
Noisiel, France

"Ten artists exhibiting for the first time in France question how activism, mutual aid, feminism, indigenous knowledge, queer desire, creative survival, and a closer relationship to the land can contribute to a better recognition of care as a powerful social and cultural force."

Opening Reception & Artist's Roundtable
Sunday, March 3, 2019
La Ferme du Buisson
with Kwentong Bayan Collective, Steven Eastwood, Sheena Hoszko, Hazel Meyer, Raju Rage, and curator, Christine Shaw

MORE INFO

The Museum of Contemporary Art presents Jo SiMalaya Alcampo: Singing Plants, as part of the Art of Propagation performative speaker series that aims to broaden perspectives on art and culture through acts, thinking and projects of cultivation, fermentation and propagation.

Jo will introduce us to the Singing Plants – keepers of indigenous knowledge, stories and memory. These banana plants respond to human touch with songs – the Hudhud chant of the Ifugao people – and sounds of bamboo instruments and gongs indigenous to the Philippines.

March 14, 2018
7 PM - 9 PM
Henderson Brewing Co., 128A Sterling Road
Free event