Sanga-sanga or interconnection aims to map out in visual form the networks of care that the pandemic has generated as a means of support for migrant workers and their families in their homeland. It is also about mobility or the lack of it with the train map and the bird as reference points.
Two online workshopsexplore these themes with two migrant workers, NoemiManguerra and Cristina Cayat,co-founders of Hong Kong-basedartist collective Guhit Kulay, co-facilitatewith Alma Quinto.These are "Sanga sangang Ayuda NgayongPandemya" (Networks of Care during thePandemic) and "Agtayab Tayon" (Let's Fly) whichprovide spaces for the participants to create, tell their stories, meet and learn from others and exchange ways on how to co-exist with the deadly virus.
Rochelle Size: 51 x76 cm Medium: acrylic, box board, facemask, red pocket, mixed media Year: 2021
Noemi Size: 76.2 x 50.8 cm Medium: mix media (box board, mask, sanitizer, remittance receipts, voucher card, sticker for Covid-19 vaccination) Year: 2021
Cecil carton, softdrinks opener, remittance receipt, wet wipes, facemask, glue gun 50 x 90 cm
Rochelle Size: 51 x76 cm Medium: acrylic, box board, facemask, red pocket, mixed media Year: 2021
Facilitators
Alma Quinto
Visual artist, cultural worker and educator
For her artist residency in Center for Heritage Arts and Textiles (Hongkong) in 2018, she collaborated with Filipino migrant workers for her project Day off mo? (Is it your day off?). more >
Cris
Co-founder and Program coordinator,
Guhit Kulay Migrant Artist Collective
Hongkong
Cris has been working in Hongkong for 25 years, where she’s also an active member of Guhit Kulay, a migrant artist collective set up in 2017.
Pre-pandemic, Cris is mostly a visual artist taking part in workshops and putting up exhibits in Hongkong. Because of the lockdown, she ventured to embroidery and sew cloth masks to cheer up her friends.
She grew up in Baguio where she owns a gown rental business on the side. She looks forward to applying what she learned in the workshops in developing her business.
Cris is the co-facilitator for the Agtayab Tayon workshops.
Noemi
Co-founder and President,
Guhit Kulay Migrant Artist Collective
Hongkong
Noemi has been a migrant worker for almost 18 years now. She worked for 2 years in Taiwan and spent the rest of her years in Hongkong, where she became one of the founders of Guhit Kulay, a group of Filipino migrant artist collective set up in 2017. Prior to establishing the organization, Noemi spends her day-offs at the park, drawing.
Noemi says that the Kamustahan sessions excite her because as a self-taught artist, she still discovers new techniques because of the workshops. More than the skills, she also appreciates meeting Filipino migrant workers from different parts of the world. Pre-pandemic, Guhit Kulay also launches physical art workshops, and Noemi is excited to facilitate similar workshops again, with the insights she developed from participating in Kamustahan.
Noemi is the co-facilitator for the "Sanga-sangang Ayuda Ngayong Pandemya" workshops.
Participants
Francia
Taiwan
Francia has experienced working in 4 different countries: Singapore, Macau, Hongkong, and Taiwan. She recalls how her early years as an OFW were more complicated because there were limited communication channels— she used to fill boxes of letters back in the 2000s. Today, she’s the coordinator of Filipino Domestic Workers Union in Taiwan.
She said that life as a domestic worker taught her about her rights, and empowered by her organization, she learned to speak against injustices against migrant workers. Francia enjoys making art out of recycled materials and sees it as a way to communicate resistance and her community’s advocacies.
Cielo
London
Cielo spends most of her time organizing for Filipino Domestic Workers Association (FDWA). For Cielo, a hobby is something that one likes doing, and when asked about hers, the first thing that comes to her mind is organizing. Organizing for FDWA is part of Cielo’s daily routine; she responds to the call of migrant workers who need assistance and rescues them from abusive employers, any time of the day.
What motivated Cielo to co-facilitate the workshop was her intention to build a network of migrant workers from Taiwan and Hongkong.
Chel
Hongkong
Chel joined the “Sanga-Sanga” workshop because it’s what piqued her curiosity the most. She said that art forms like illustration are common, and she wanted to explore forms that are more unusual. She says that juggling her time as a migrant worker in Hongkong and as an artist is challenging, sometimes, she takes a day off to finish art-making because she is determined to work on her passion.
When she posts her work online, she hopes to inspire others to find time to work on what they enjoy doing. She encourages others to explore their talents because “they can do whatever they wish, as long as they put their heart and mind into it,” said Chel.
Marites
Hongkong
Marites graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and worked as a production artist before becoming a migrant worker. Having graduated with an arts degree, she is knowledgeable in various art forms and techniques. She decided to become a domestic worker in Hongkong to earn better and grow outside her practice from working in a production company.
She says working with fellow participants in Kamustahan motivates her to create more, that sometimes even at work, she gets an idea of what to sketch once she comes home. She’s happy to meet other artists through the workshops, and hopes to learn how to make furniture in the future.
Rochelle
Hongkong
Rochelle is a self taught artist but her love for art also runs in their family. Just like many artists, creating art serves as her therapy to console her tired body after the day's work. She has been working as a domestic worker in Hongkong since 2009.
Marrz
Hongkong / Philippines
Marrz is a transman who now resides in Abra after working in Hong Kong for 40 years. He left HK in November 2020 when his American employer lost her job due to the pandemic. He is a co-founder of Filguys HK, a Hongkong-based organization that advocates for the LGBTQ's rights both in Hong Kong and in the Philippines.
Before he left Hongkong, he trained a co-member in Filguys how to officiate same sex marriage which used to be his task as a pastor for the organization.
Cecil
Hongkong
Joan
Hongkong / Philippines
Michelle
Hongkong
Jo
London