WALKING IN THE SUN
May 17-19, 2019
Human Resources Los Angeles
410 Cottage Home St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Role: Curator
Colorism: A practice of discrimination by which those with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those with darker skin. This practice is a product of racism in the United States, in that it upholds the white standards of beauty and benefits white people in the institutions of oppression (National Conference for Community and Justice, 2019)
Filipinx have distinct memories of being told that if they were to be in the sun for too long, their skin will darken and therefore be undesirable.
The narratives of darker skinned Asians within the Asian American and Pacific islander (AAPI) diaspora are silenced because of the systemic issues brought by colorism. Colorism and the discrimination against darker skin in the Asian community is especially insidious in the Philippines and within the Filipinx diaspora because of its history of colonization. The 12 Filipinx artists featured in Walking in the Sun explore the effects of colorism and its manifestation as colonial mentality within themselves as well as members of their community.
This exhibition is a platform for these stories to be told and an encouragement to these artists and members of the Filipinx American community to feel empowered by the journey of decolonizing one’s mind and body. To walk in the sun is to embrace brownness, to not be hidden, to not be silent. To walk in the sun means speaking, emphasizing, revealing, peeling, sweating, and loving the stories of bodies so often rejected from within and without.
The artists featured are as follows:
Francis Calimlim
Anna Liza de Leon Evangelista
Tristan Espinoza
Christine Hipolito
Matt Manalo
Tala Mateo
Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza
Robben Muñoz
Sherwin Rio
Maria Villote
Walking in the Sun featured a multidisciplinary sound and dance performance collaboration by Mark Golamco and Cirilo Domine.