KAPWA FEST 2018: The Art of Our Relations

Kathara Society proudly presents
KAPWA FEST 2018: The Art of Our Relations
Presented at The Dance Centre
Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie Street
Friday November 2, 2018 @ 7PM
Tickets through Eventbrite https://bit.ly/2RKSlpr

By Sliding Scale Donation

Artists: Kim Villagante (emcee / poet), Butterflies In Spirits (dance), Kat Norris (song), Babette Santos (movement), Bert Monterona (painter), Kin Balam (singer / poet) , Mocassin Sisters (dance), Mayo Landicho (tattoo), Cease Wyss (storytelling), Alvin Tolentino (contemporary artist) and Kathara Dance Theatre (dance/theatre)

The Filipino term KAPWA loosely translated meaning Self In Others is a Philippine Indigenous People’s psychology that centers on shared experience and shared identity. Kapwa Fest 2018 The Art of Our Relations happening on November 2 at The Dance Centre offers collaborations shared between Filipinos in diaspora and urban indigenous cultural artists of Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

 A month-long series of activities culminating at the Scotiabank Dance Centre on November 2 starting 7pm entitled Kapwa: The Art of Our Relations is a community share back about weaving histories of a collective memory explored through collaborative songwriting, storytelling, martial arts practice, dance workshop, ritual making, healing work (hilot) and honouring ancestors. The event day on November 2 also falls on a Philippine holiday, “Araw Ng Mga Patay” or All Souls Day similar to Latin American tradition, Day of the Dead offering prayers and communing with spirits and ancestors.  

“We all come from somewhere and from someone… unravelling ancestral pasts, weaving histories, each of us one patch of a quilted blanket, piling stacks of fabric detailing human history quintessential to healing our communities with warmth, knowledge and understanding toward future collective harmony.” – Kathara Society.

 For Kapwa Fest 2018 Calendar, click here.

Some of the lead up events and workshops toward November 2 Kapwa Art of Our Relations have been considered “firsts” in the community. Emcee and poet Kimmortal (Kim Villagante) offers song writing workshop for youth at Creekside Community Centre that focuses on mixing Filipino traditional / indigenous rhythms with contemporary hiphop woven into themes of indigeneity and de-colonisation. Tin Gamboa’s Human Connection in Ancestry depicts and uses the body as a container to express memories passed on from ancestors through movement and dance. Shishir Inocalla’s Hilot or healing practice happening at the Collingwood Neighbourhood House introduces the ancient Filipino traditional art of healing.

How do workshops and performances look like for Filipinx in diaspora, urban indigenous, GLBTQ and BIPOC expressing their work on de-colonization? How can anti-colonial space grow and thrive within settler communities on indigenous lands? What does ceremony-making mean about accountability to the land and future generations where youth and elders gather as co-creators rather than consumers?

Known for their innovative events in community engagement, Kathara Society invites the public to participate in the groundbreaking event Kapwa The Art of Our Relations.

MEDIA CONTACT For further inquiries, call Sobey Wing 778.321.9434 or email katharainfo@gmail.com

KAPWA FEST 2018 The Art of Our Relations is made possible through the generous support of the City of Vancouver’s Community Arts Grant, Vancity, & Kathara Society’s members and donors.