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"Makibaka! Huwag Matakot!” (Dare to Struggle! Do Not Be Afraid!)
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Making Art for Movement with Learnings from the Philippines
Our next workshop series, "Makibaka! Huwag Matakot!” (Dare to Struggle! Do Not Be Afraid!), focuses on the question: how can we put our artistic practice in service of frontline communities facing climate disaster, land dispossession, poverty, and repression? In answering, we find new avenues for growth in our own artistic expression, more meanings for art’s uses, and methods for both individual and community expression.
These workshops are co-facilitated by members of Liyang Western Massachusetts who have visited and integrated with anti-imperialist community organizations in the Philippines. We will share creative activities and practical tools informed by stories and forms of struggle across Indigenous, youth, queer, women, urban, and rural communities.
Activities include small group reading & discussion, theatrical tableaus, placard-painting, and silk screen prints. Participants will leave with ways to use art to process information and emotions, express solidarity, educate, and take concrete action.
September 2: Stand in Solidarity with Lumad! | RSVP
Storytelling ancestral land defense with film, books, and tableau.
In this session we introduce Liyang Network’s origins with Indigenous communities in Southern Philippines. By watching short documentary videos and reading excerpts from an all-ages book, we will learn about the Lumad struggle for sovereignty against U.S. imperialism on their ancestral lands. Then we will make tableaus—still scenes of action together—to embody their stories and discuss how our struggles connect with theirs
October 7: Defend the Defenders! | RSVP
Painting placards to propagate a pro-people culture.
In this session we learn how activists use a shared analysis of Philippine society to build a comprehensive movement across class and sectors. We’ll learn about repression and collective resistance from Philippine political prisoners and human rights organizations that Liyang supports through their Defend the Defenders campaign. We will paint placards that express solidarity, build unity, mobilize resistance, and replenish a culture of hope in the face of state violence against the people. You are also invited to bring a shirt, tote bag, bandana, etc to screenprint a Liyang member’s “Defend the Defenders” artwork.
Facilitator Bio:
mica rose (they/them) channels ancestral medicine into ‘modern temples’ formed when we gather intentionally. They collaborate on dozens of events yearly—weaving together altarmaking, spoken word poetry, taiko, ritual, political education, and martial arts. mica is a member of Liyang Network: a local to global advocacy network amplifying calls to action of grassroots communities in the Philippines where mica lives seasonally with blood and chosen families. mica co-directs the Cultural Equity Incubator—check out “Shaping Creative Justice Ecosystems” now published by Routledge. mica holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from Boston University, and keeps learning through organizing.
Liyang Network is a local-to-global advocacy network that amplifies the calls of grassroots communities in Mindanao, Philippines. They were founded in Mindanao in 2019, in response to an ask from Sabokahan Unity of Lumad Women to form a global solidarity network for their campaigns, and have since expanded their work to support a variety of other sectors and issues. Their mission from the beginning has been to amplify the calls to action of those facing the brunt of imperialist oppression – women, Indigenous peoples, peasant farmers, and youth. Our co-founders and partners on the ground are closely embedded in the community organizing, advocacy, and services for these sectors. They ensure that Liyang's material support has the biggest possible impact.
