Something Meant For You When You Welcome Me Back: Translocal Material Entanglement Across a Global Arkipelago


2023
Essay

 

The group exhibition “A World of Islands: On Palms, Storms and Coconuts” curated by Ligaya Salazar was accompanied by a collection of publications that a visitor to the exhibition could gather as they navigated from work to work. There was a publication for each artist, and together, they became the catalog for the show. My contribution was a personal essay I wrote earlier this year after my extended stay in the Philippine archipelago, called 'Something Meant For You When You Welcome Me Back.' The text critically reflects on the relationships between palm leaf weaving, pasalubong or souvenir-gifting customs and my own creative practices. It was also a place where I could ask questions about whether and how tourism in Majority World is a form of imperialism, and what that means for me when I visit there. You can read the essay, along with the rest of texts relating to the other artists’ work in the exhibition at the link below.

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READ THE FULL CATALOG HERE