Towards a Kapwa Curatorial Practice

Considerations of care and community

Anne-Marie Brockenhuus-Schack

November 2020

Masters of Curating and Cultural Leadership

University of New South Wales Art & Design

Course Convenor:
Doctor Prudence Gibson


1
ABSTRACT

What might it mean for the Indigenous Filipino/a/x virtue of ‘kapwa’ (shared being) to inform
curatorial practice? Leaning on Maura Riley’s Curatorial Activism: Towards an Ethics of Curating
(2018) and the exclusionary practices of creative practitioners considered ‘Other’, this paper aims
to explore how the notion of kapwa can deconstruct hierarchical relationships and dichotomous
logic towards a recognition of collective consciousness. How kapwa can be exemplified through
relational practice will be examined within two Filipino/a/x-Australian self-determined case
studies: Eme Talastas-Dela Rosa’s Usapan Sa La Mesa (2018-2019) and the Filipinx Writers’
Room’s Salt Baby (2020). The nature of this research is exploratory, drawing on a variety of
sources, including academia, articles, conversations, and my own reflexive interpretations of the
notion of kapwa with selected Major Arcana cards from Jana Lynne Umipig’s Kapwa Tarot. I offer
the underpinnings of how cultivating kapwa can provide a reconsideration of care when engaging
with Filipino/a/x practitioners and communities.

Keywords kapwa, filipino/a/x, care, curatorial practice, curatorial activism, Other


2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I acknowledge and pay respect the Dharawal people, Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and all
traditional custodians, on whose land I live, work and study on.

Miranda Aguilar, Gloria Demillo, Rizcel Gagawanan, Jules Orcullo, Eme Talastas-Dela Rosa,
Paschal Daantos Berry, JL Umipig who have all spent time contributing to making this paper
possible.

Dr Prudence Gibson for their extreme patience and support, and who have encouraged my
academic rigour.

To my family, Filipino/a/x community, our elders and ancestors, who have paved the way and
inspired this paper.

To my friends, peers, lecturers and tutors I have met along the way, who inspire me and in part
have shaped my thinking and processes. 


3
NOTES ON TERMINOLOGY

At the time of writing, ‘P/Filipino/a/x’ is a preferred term and in the thesis, all of this is
interchangeable. The use of ‘P’ and ‘x’ signifies a fundamental preference in decolonial languaging.
In addition, the ending suffix (-o, -a, -x) are linguistic variations of gender identification. These are
all dependent on the preference of context and individuals.

In Sikolohiyang Pilipino, ‘Indigenisation’ is a term referred to the process of decolonisation within

the self. However, Pe-Pua questions the relevance of the term indigenisation because ‘how can
you indigenise something which is already indigenous?’1 He notes the term ‘cultural revalidation’2
is more acceptable and this is my preferred term. As I reside on stolen land and benefit as a settler,
the decolonial experience I explore within this paper is not the same as the struggle for sovereignty
by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

1R. Pe-Pua & E. Protacio-Marcelino ‘Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino psychology): A legacy of Virigilio G.
Enriquez. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 3, 2000, p.51
2 ibid., p.51
4
LIST OF FIGURES/ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1 JL Umipig, ‘XXI. KAPWA’ in Kapwa Tarot series, 2017, inkjet print on card, 6
10x15.3cm, courtesy of the artist

Figure 2 JL Umipig, ‘VII. BANGKA’ in Kapwa Tarot series, 2017, inkjet print on card, 10
10x15.3cm, courtesy of the artist

Figure 3 EME, ‘Usapan Sa La Mesa’ at Newtown Neighbourhood Centre, Sydney, 12

2018, official sign on bamboo, ceramics, plants, vegetables, and
palm leaves, varied dimensions, photography by Jen Cuenco,
courtesy of the artist

Figure 4 JL Umipig, ‘0. TAO in Kapwa Tarot series, 2017, inkjet print on card, 15
10x15.3cm, courtesy of the artist

Figure 5 JL Umipig, ‘V. DATU’ in Kapwa Tarot series, 2017, inkjet print on card, 16
10x15.3cm, courtesy of the artist

Figure 6 JL Umipig, ‘IX. NUNO SA PUNSO’ in Kapwa Tarot series, 2017, 19

inkjet print on card, 10x15.3cm, courtesy of the artist

5
Introduction

Figure 1

We see splitting images of an individual with their hands in a prayer position facing each other (Fig
1). Multiple outstretched hands from spirit hold the individuals in support. The four Earthly elements
are in the arms, a reminder of everything we need to co-create: balahibo ng ibon (the feather)
representing air, balat (the shells) representing water, binhi (the seeds) representing earth, rattan
(the rattan plant/kali stick) representing fire. Kapwa (shared identity) is depicted as The World, the
final card in the Major Arcana in JL Umipig’s Kapwa Tarot (2018), indicative of the completion of
cycles and celebration of achievement. Kapwa in this instance becomes a celebration in the
recognition of wholeness within ourselves, and understanding that separation is an illusion
concealing the truth of interconnectedness. By being centred in ourselves, we are able to move
through the world in a way that supports the people and communities around us.

Growing up as a mixed race Filipinx in Australia, one who is still exploring what it means to unlearn
colonial impacts specific to the Filipino/a/x experience, I think of gradually losing kapwa more so
than experiencing it. So when the experience of kapwa emerged from the development of the
Filipinx Writers’ Room (FWR) for Salt Baby (2020), I paused relishing the camaraderie and flow.
Kapwa described something that signified the bond we shared as a collaborative group of five
female and non-binary creatives which continues today. It was something we all inherently felt, the
consideration and care of holding space for one another and the deep listening and acceptance
that followed. It made me wonder in what ways the concept of kapwa could inform curatorial
practice and became the basis of this research.

6
Maura Reilly in Curatorial Activism: Towards an Ethics of Curating advocates for a levelling of
hierarchies and a fundamental redefining of art practice.3 She highlights damning statistics and
practices of the art world which continue to exclude artists considered as ‘Other’ by Western-
centric standards built on colonial history. More often than not, this category embodies women,
queer, artists of colour, and/or not from Europe or North America and defines their artistic career.4
Reilly argues that “discrimination against these artists invades every aspect of the art world, from
gallery representation, auction-price differentials, and press coverage, to inclusion in permanent
collections and solo exhibition programs”.5 I recognise the current shift towards equitable
structures for culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities and an institutional desire to
recognise and adapt culturally specific methodologies. For example, Diversity Arts Australia
recently published its Creative Equity Toolkit, in which it provides guidelines and resources for arts
and creative organisations to reach their diversity and inclusion goals.6 Within the section of
‘Cultural Consultation’, it poses a preference for collaboration over consultation to create more
equitable power dynamics.7 Yet, I wonder if these suggestions without enforcement perpetuate
superficial presentations of cultural representation.

This paper is no means a definitive model, rather an inquiry into the connections that drive selected
Filipino/a/x self-determined practices that look towards community building. To support this, I
asked Filipino/a/x curators and creatives: Miranda Aguilar, Paschal Daantos Berry, Gloria Demillo,
Rizcel Gagawanan, Jules Orcullo, and Eme Talastas-Dela Rosa to contribute their thoughts on
kapwa. I wish to articulate and offer an alternative framework: one that can sustain my own
curatorial methodologies and practice; one that stands alongside Filipinx decolonial literature and
bridges between curatorial practice; one that permits a reconsideration and imagining for Filipinx
creative practitioners to feel empowered to pursue self-determined curatorial practices rooted in
the decolonial; and one that arts institutions and museums can acknowledge.

The concerns of this research circulate around the critical and experimental investigation of kapwa
and its utilisation in collaborative and relational practices. I am thus asking about the significance of
kapwa as a concept and in practice in contemporary art, and how it could be articulated
curatorially. Firstly, this paper will outline the conceptual framework of kapwa. Secondly, this paper
will outline how kapwa aligns itself on process and community building through the breaking down
of hierarchies and constructs of power determined by Western-centrism. Usapan Sa La Mesa
highlights how the notion of kapwa can be considered as a form of decolonial healing and solidarity

3 M. Reilly, Curatorial Activism: Towards an Ethics of Curating, Thames & Hudson, London, 2018, p.11
4 ibid., p.17
5 ibid., p.17
6Diversity Arts Australia, ‘Creative Equity Toolkit’. 2020, viewed on 1 August 2020, http://diversityarts.org.au/
project/diversity-toolkit/
7 Creative Equity Toolkit, ‘Ditch consultation for collaboration’. 2020, viewed on 1 August 2020, https://
creativeequitytoolkit.org/topic/cultural-consultation/ditch-consultation-for-collaboration
7
with Othered communities through the recognition of human and non-human dynamics. Thirdly, I
will critique the responsibility of care that exemplifies kapwa, drawing connections with the role of
the curator. FWR provides an example of sustaining oneself, ones practice and community through
the experience of kapwa. I will then summarise and pose final thoughts.

I. Kapwa: the shared self

The Philippines has endured colonisation by multiple countries since the 16th century resulting in a
legacy of an internalisation of white beliefs and values, poverty and exploitation of land and non-
human resources.8 Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino psychology) was developed by Dr Virgilio
Enriquez in the 1960s; encompassing Indigenous Filipino/a/x values and culturally specific
concepts to address historical trauma, colonial mentality, and re-centring the Filipino/a/x agency of
healing, distancing itself from Western perspectives of culture.9 In Sikolohiyang Pilipino, kapwa is
considered a core concept and is imperfectly expressed in English as a ‘recognition of shared
identity, an inner self shared with others’.10 According to Enriquez, this recognition of shared
identity refers to ‘ako’ (self) and ‘iba sa akin’ (others) as the same, and that ‘hindi ako sa iba aking
kapwa’ (I am no different from others).11 The concept of kapwa has been expanded by filmmaker
and artist Kidlat Tahimik, referring to it as an including orientation.12 You include the other in
whatever you do, whether it be decisions or actions because we are all interlinked in a larger
spiritual and community grouping.13 This reference to including is not akin to ‘inclusion’ which
suggests a point of assimilation, in which the other is inferior.14 In this instance, kapwa stands in
opposition to individualism because there is a shared empathy and recognition that we are
inherently interconnected.

The notion of kapwa represents an ideal of collectivism and group welfare.15 This can be
interpreted as being one organism with a shared innermost core, and an inherent trust and

8K. de Guia, ‘Indigenous Values for Sustainable Nation Building’. Prajñā Vihāra, vol. 14, no. 1-2, January -
December 2013, p. 176
9J. Yacat ‘Filipino Psychology (Sikolohiyang Pilipino)’. The Encyclopaedia of Cross-Cultural Psychology, K.
D. Keith (ed), John Wiley & Sons, 2013, p.1
10 V.
Enriquez, ‘Kapwa: A Core Concept in Filipino Social Psychology’. Philippine Social Science and
Humanities Review, vol. 42, 1978, p.263
11 ibid., p. 264
12 Sharjah Art Foundation, ‘Kidlat Tahimik and Zoe Butt - On kapwa, bathala na!, and the art of never
finishing’, YouTube, 20 May 2020, viewed 12 October 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=7i2WV7kQeSw
13 ibid.
14O. Nava, ‘Decolonising the Curatorial Process’, Vimeo, 3 October 2020, viewed 6 November 2020, https://
vimeo.com/464558806
15 P. Daantos Berry, personal communication, 23 November 2020
8
responsibilities that come with sustaining it.16 Educational scholar Maharaj Desai (2016) builds on
this ideal as a means of deepening our connections with one another, which in turn provides the
foundation to processing and healing trauma in our lives and history.17 Kapwa at its fullest can be
likened to a closeness so tight, that members of the community are able to sense each other’s
emotions and thoughts by feeling and reading non-verbal cues.18 This state of flow suggests
everyone functions as one akin to wholeness as synergistic relationality, in which ontologically the
relationship among entities is more fundamental than parts themselves.19 This state of flow
exemplifies a combination of kapwa and ‘pakikiramdam’ (shared inner perception) that draws on
improvisatory behaviour to avoid offending or hurting people’s feelings based on intuitive
perceptions.20 Yet, to achieve and sustain this in practice, at least in an Australian context that
models itself on Western values of individualism, is still in question and an area that could benefit
from further research.

It can be argued that the Filipino/a/x diaspora has bought into the capitalist imperialist agenda of
Western powers like the United States and our attempts to commune and support one another are
motivated by performative patriotism.21 However, these comments miss the mark of what kapwa is
and the responsibility for accountability towards one another and the community overall.22 The
Filipino/a/x identity has been subject to the imposition of colonial values and would benefit from a
critically decolonial perspective.23 The notion of kapwa pervades every ethnolinguistic group within
the Philippines, providing the opportunity to cultivate solidarity and healing amongst Filipino/a/x,
specifically as a means to decolonise specific to the Filipino/a/x experience.24 Scholar Dr Leny
Strobel (2005) recognises the process of decolonising as a spiritual one, through a ‘cultural
revalidation’ of re-discovering and reclaiming pre-colonial Pilipinx identity and narratives.25
Incorporating a criticality with kapwa becomes a process to empower the individual to operate
outside of hegemonic structures that perpetuate colonial domination, and a process of cultivating

16J. Orcullo, personal communication, 21 November 2020; R. Gagawan, personal communication, 21

November 2020; M. Aguilar, personal communication, 26 November 2020; G. Demillo, personal
communication, 24 November 2020
17M. Desai, ‘Critical Kapwa: Possibilities of Collective Healing from Colonial Trauma’. Educational
Perspectives, vol. 48, no. 1-2, 2016, pp.34-36
18 ibid., p.36
19D. Seamon, ‘Ways of Understanding Wholeness: Place, Christopher Alexander, and Synergistic
Relationality’, conference proceedings, December 2018, p.4
20 Yacat, op. cit., p.2
21 Daantos Berry, op. cit., communication; Aguilar, op. cit., communication
22 Demillo, op. cit, communication; Aguilar, op. cit., communication
23 Desai, op. cit., p.36
24 ibid., p.35
25 L. M. Strobel, A book of her own: Words and images to honor the babaylan. Tiboli Publishing, 2005, p.182
9
connections between people, cultures, places, environments, history, and spirituality.26 Additionally,
sikolohiyang Pilipino encourages connections with fellow marginalised or oppressed communities
or narratives in hopes to develop a sense of integration with Othered voices and narratives outside
of the Filipino/a/x community.27 In turn, the process of unlearning coloniality with a sense of
criticality and reflexivity, could further support and cultivate solidarity amongst Othered
communities. Therefore, kapwa suggests an embodiment of becoming whole within oneself and
further extending that wholeness outwards.

II. The journey towards collective knowledge production

Figure 2

Bangka (boat) or The Chariot (Figure 2), ends the first line of Kapwa Tarot in the Major Arcana
associated with birth, identity, and ego. The journey through the Major Arcana refers to a cycle of
birth, death, and rebirth within the psyche. In Visayan mythology, bangka is the means of
transportation towards our ancestors. With the imagery of spirit cradling the bangka, this card
implies honouring the path you have chosen and letting it pull you towards the unknown, the sun
and moon illuminating the journey ahead. While Bangka may be the metaphoric green light, my
interpretation is one of consideration and sustainability. It is a long journey ahead, therefore is the
vessel equipped to support the next phase? What considerations need to be taken into account?

26 Desai, op. cit., p.37

27
M. Dela Cruz Porcadas, ‘Evolution of Discourse: Identifying Sikolohiyang Pilipino in the Classroom’.
Masters of Arts in Education: Equity and Social Justice, San Francisco State University, May 2019, p.67
10
Due to its including orientation, I find that kapwa encourages process-driven and activist work at its
core. The gradual rise of curatorial ethics places the importance of social responsibility on
museums and arts institutions to measure the impacts of knowledge and cultural representation.28
It emphasises the importance to abandon art historical canons and incorporate new narratives that
respond to cultural changes.29 Yet, poet and organiser Eunice Andrada (2020) argues, that
institutional spaces are not reliable because those in power of key decision-making do not
understand what we need—only we do.30 It is through the coming together of people, often from
situations born of struggle, that we have the opportunity to create a space beyond that struggle.31
Reilly further acknowledges this sentiment, by referring to non-Western culture's appeal to Western
culture as a source of commodity.32 Thus Reilly questions whether mainstream curators are
essentially constructing the foundations for new and potentially more insidious forms of
appropriation and Othering.33 This premise is what draws me towards self-determined practices by
Filipino/a/x creative practitioners. Underpinning conversations and essays within the Filipino/a/x
diaspora is a frustration of misrepresentation, a fatigue of negotiating spaces and having to justify
ourselves and our existence in a space.34 The creation of self-determined spaces have been acts
of resistance through re-centring our communities.35 The notion of kapwa suggests what is
possible is a social order that emphasises participation, challenges power, and spans disciplines.36

28 I. Campolmi, ‘Institutional Engagement and the Growing Role of Ethics in Contemporary Curatorial
Practice’. Museum International, vol. 68, no. 271-272, ICOM & Blackwell Publishing, 2017, pp.69-70
29 I. Campolmi, ‘What is sustainable museology?’. ICOM News, vol. 68, no.1, May 2015, p. 6
30E. Andrada ‘Community as a space beyond struggle’, 4A Papers, no. 9, November 2020, viewed 22
November 2020, http://www.4a.com.au/4a_papers_article/community-space-beyond-struggle/
31 ibid.
32 Reilly, op. cit. p. 105
33 ibid., p.106
34 Andrada, 4A Papers;
M. Certeza Garcia, ‘Towards a Kapwa Theory of Art: Working Towards Wholeness in Contemporary
Practice’. Back from the Crocodile’s Belly, L. Strobel & S. L. Mendoza (eds), Centre for Babalayan Studies,
California, 2013;
Aguilar, Demillo, Gagawanan, Orcullo, personal communication, 2019-2020;
E. Talastas-Dela Rosa, personal communication, 16 October 2020
35 Andrada, op. cit.
36 N. Thompson, Living as Form: Socially Engaged Art From 1991-2011. MIT Press, New York, 2012, p.19
11
 Figure 3

Usapan Sa La Mesa (talking at the table) (2018-2019) was a series of participatory sites to practice
kapwa and bayanihan (communal solidarity) organised by artist, activist, and curator Eme Talastas-
Dela Rosa. It serves as a community act of resistance through coming together with food, culture,
and conversations about decolonisation.37 Usapan Sa La Mesa was intentionally based on the
experience of kapwa with human and non-human beings through the healing of the self and
subsequently the healing of the family.38 The shared belongingness of kapwa was extended
beyond ethnic boundaries and identities. While still focusing on the Filipinx experience, subsequent
iterations opened the community to broader queer, First Nations, and CaLD identities. In 2019,
Usapan was held at Verge Gallery and Eme has discussed the shift in energy and purpose, noting
a reclamation of their agency within the space.39 Primarily, these events are held in community
halls (Figure 3), directly challenging Western art theory and cannot be mediated by the institutional
gaze.40 Utilising art in community halls also created a space of familiarity and accessibility for
people who may not feel comfortable in art institutional spaces or in political or activist settings.41

37E. Talastas-Dela Rosa, ‘Usapan Sa La Mesa’, Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours), SCA, University of
Sydney, October 2018, pp.10-13
38L. M. Strobel, Coming Full Circle: The Process of Decolonization Among Post-1965 Filipino Americans,
The Centre of the Babaylan Studies, California, 2015, p.11
39 Talastas-Dela Rosa, op. cit., communication
40ibid.; C. Bishop, Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship, Verso, London, 2011,
pp.11-13
41 ibid., pp.11-13
12
The notion of kapwa positions itself as an including orientation of the human and non-human,
recognising itself as the antithesis of Western individualism and dichotomous logic. If we are to
embrace kapwa, it serves a reminder that to decolonise is to decolonise knowledge.42 However,
coloniality underpins a matrix of power which produces racial and gender hierarchies, and in
conjunction with capital, maintains a regime of exploitation and domination.43 What constitutes art
and curating as they currently exist is largely based on the structures of colonialism and early
capitalism, which are then subsequently disseminated through Art and Curatorial pedagogy and
seasonal programmes.44 These ideals premise an exclusionary nature, creating dichotomous logic
and binary perception of the world without the consideration of nuance.45 From this stems the
boundaries of privilege and perception which create a shifting context of the Other.46 Reilly notes
that the so-called ‘global’ art world privileges this Western centrism by valuing easily legible
narratives of non-white artists.47 In turn, control is maintained through narrowing narratives and
imbuing these narratives with racial stereotypes.48 Or perhaps more insidiously, these narratives
speak to the desire to seek authenticity over multiplicity, which in turn holds non-white artists to
Western markers of what ‘authenticity’ means.49 Any challenge to the broader framework is thus
met with the insinuation of equality through the celebration of a select few of Other artists as token
achievers.50 Within Australia, at least, the arts industry at large fails to shift power dynamics and
roles in the arts from its colonial status quo. Arts scholar, Tania Cañas (2017) notes that the arts
industry relies on reputation and the engagement of predetermined terms which avoid making
collective and meaningful decision making.51 Terms such as ‘diversity’ are considered a white
concept and seek to maintain hegemonic structures through making sense of difference through a
white lens.52 Moving towards the notion of kapwa suggests a recognition that we can no longer

42 I. Muñiz-Reed, ‘Thoughts on Curatorial Practice in the Decolonial Turn’. OnCurating, vol. 35, December
2017, viewed 1 October 2020, https://www.on-curating.org/issue-35-reader/thoughts-on-curatorial-practices-
in-the-decolonial-turn.html#.X8HgskIzaRt
43 ibid.
44Jones, A., ‘The Local versus the Global in Curating and Curatorial Pedagogy’, Journal of Curatorial
Studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2017, p. 233
45L. P. Q. Sousa & R. R. Pessoa, ‘Humans, Nonhuman Others, Matter and Language: A Discussion from
Posthumanist and Decolonial Perspectives’. Trabalhos em Linguística Aplicada, vol. 58, no. 2, 2019, https://
www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0103-18132019000200520&script=sci_arttext
46 ibid.
47 Reilly, op. cit., p.103
48 ibid., p.103
49 T. Cañas, ‘Diversity is a white word’, ArtsHub, January 9 2017, viewed on 1 September 2020, https://
www.artshub.com.au/education/news-article/opinions-and-analysis/professional-development/tania-canas/
diversity-is-a-white-word-252910
50 Reilly, op. cit., p.20-21
51 Cañas, op. cit.
52 ibid.
13
tolerate spaces that do not accept our whole selves, and that the presence of such spaces are
rare.53

In an attempt to move past hierarchies and positions, ‘the curatorial’ - termed by curator Maria Lind
- invokes a shifting focus towards process. She describes performing the curatorial as “a way of
thinking in terms of interconnections: linking objects, images, processes, people, locations,
histories, and discourses in physical space like an active catalyst, generating twists, turns and
tensions”.54 It presents the curatorial as a dynamic and active process in comparison to curating as
the technicalities.55 Curating as described by Lind is not the product of curators, but the fruit of
labour of a network of agents.56 She acknowledges contemporary art’s ability to sense and address
existence today and is comparatively an advanced form of analysis and knowledge production.57
Therefore working curatorially can support and encompasses a multiplicity within the process of
knowledge production.58 While kapwa can be acknowledged through these interconnections and
networks, I question whether the curatorial unintentionally narrows and maintains the elemental
divisions of nature, culture, and society within Cartesian thought by focusing on the agency of the
human. Lind’s descriptions suggest the idea of these networks of agents as pre-given and
independent of each other. If kapwa can be intended as a decolonial framework for the Filipinx
experience, I reflect on the Tao (human) or The Fool card (Figure 4) in Kapwa Tarot and the
receptivity and learning in relationships with nonhuman beings as a means of moving towards
cultivating a collective knowledge production. The imagery within the card has a human with eyes
closed walking off a cliff into serene waters, arms raised to the sky. There is trust in something
bigger and beyond than the self. Can kapwa, when invoked within the curatorial, be understood as
a recognition of moving beyond the independence and individualism of people and things?

53 Andrada, op. cit.

54 M. Lind, ‘The Curatorial’. Artforum, vol. 68, no. 2, October 2009, p.63
55 ibid., p.63
56J. Hoffmann & M. Lind, ‘To Show or Not to Show’, Mousse, no. 31, November 2011, viewed 5 November
2020, http://moussemagazine.it/jens-hoffmann-maria-lind-2011/
57M. Lind & T. Smith, ‘Maria Lind: Stirring the Smooth Surfaces of The World: The Curatorial and The
Translocal’, Talking Contemporary Curating. ICI, New York, 2015, p.321
58 ibid., p.321
14
 Figure 4

Through an understanding that there was no single authorship, Usapan Sa La Mesa uses
relational aesthetics to break down the traditional roles of curator, artist, artwork, and audience.59
The non-hierarchical modes of agency and relation with human and non-human is further
acknowledged through the fifteen hand-built ceramic vessels crafted by Eme. Serving as both a
homage to Eme’s heritage and the purpose of serving the food, these vessels contained stories
and reflections of the artist’s process of decolonisation.60 Originally, the premise was that everyone
participating would bring a plate. Yet, in the Filipino custom of hospitality, Eme’s Mum and titas
(aunties) took on the responsibility of cooking and providing food for everyone.61 This benefitted
the participants’ experience within Usapan, as most participants had little knowledge or link to that
part of themselves, or otherwise were unable to contribute.62 It provided the opportunity to spark
something within human participants to consider their own relationship to the food, the vessels,
and Filipino/a/x culture. To work curatorially can be considered as an open experimental process
that generates its own value.63 Therefore through our own participatory experiences, the food, the
handcrafted vessels, constitute a phenomena whereby agency emerges through relationships.64

59 Bishop, op. cit., pp.38-40

60 Talastas-Dela Rosa, op. cit., ‘Usapan’, p.24-25
61 Talastas-Dela Rosa, op. cit., conversation
62 Talastas-Dela Rosa, op. cit., ‘Usapan’, p.25-26
63 Lind & Smith, op. cit., p.323
64K-K. Kontturi, H. Grande & Z. Štefková, ‘Exhibition Intra-Actions: Experiences, Identities, and Texts in the
Making’. RUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research, vol. 9, 2018, viewed 15 November 2020, https://
www.researchcatalogue.net/view/369606/369607
15
Curator Paschal Daantos Berry highlights that kapwa pertains to a more radical and open-minded
idea of ‘Other’.65 He notes that Philippine culture is all about pluralities, attributing to a looseness of
seeing forms.66 Kapwa suggests a re-centring of relations among humans with non-humans to
include connections to land and further acknowledge that our ancestors are included within the
relational network.67 Kapwa can be posited as a decolonial framework in re-aligning itself with pre-
colonial Pilipinx knowledge by invoking a relationship with human and nonhuman.

III. Learning through careful tending

Figure 5

In the Visayas and Mindanao regions of the Philippines, Datu is the title for chiefs, sovereign
princes, and monarchs. Datu or The Hierophant (Figure 5) suggests maintaining conventional
beliefs and processes, and that survival is dependent on adhering to structures. However, I see
this card as a call to be wise and adjust our perspectives. To recognise that everyone we come
across is a teacher. With Datu sitting calmly, cross-legged adorned in formal attire and surrounded
by the material, for me, it speaks of the responsibilities that come with an Earth-bound existence —

65 Daantos Berry, op. cit., conversation

66 ibid.
67 Certeza Garcia, op. cit., p.201
16
to our bodies, to the spaces we inhabit, to nature. If in kapwa, we are all parts that create a whole,
then we can come to understand maintenance and growth are in support of careful tending.

Attributed to kapwa is the responsibility of looking after one another. This evokes a sense of care
and reminds me of the etymology of care stemming from the Latin verb ‘curare’, which translates
as ‘to care’ and is linked with the role of the curator.68 Yet, as Kate Fowle highlights, the term
curator holds hierarchical connotations, an underlying balance of care and control through
suggesting that the curator presides over something.69 Since the 1980s with the emergence of the
‘curatorial turn’ identified by curator Paul O’Neill (2007), the role of the curator has evolved to
accommodate the professionalisation of the role through becoming prominent and influential as an
authorial position.70 The increase of biennale culture and of large scale recurring contemporary
festivals highlights a model in which the curator plays into ‘first-person narrative and curator self-
positioning’.71 This particular trend regards the ‘über-curator’ and ‘jet-set flâneur’ as globally-mobile
curators travelling the world directing and attending shows, and has influenced individual practices
of independent curators.72 A potential issue arises from the global art world where the means of
discovery and a ‘travelling and shopping’ model implies a unidirectional movement of artworks and
cultural importation emphasising the ‘Other’.73 Reilly posits that curatorial projects should begin as
exercises in modesty in which curators should admit their own limitation and seek assistance from
specialists outside their field.74 The notion of kapwa counters the hierarchical structures and
individualism through a cultivation of solidarity between the curator and artist dynamic.

The creation of the Filipinx Writers’ Room (FWR), was a response to observations and experiences
of a general lack of care and misrepresentation in cultural storytelling of Filipina/x women within the
mainstream Australian media landscape. We created a space to tell Filipinx-Australian stories for
us, by us that were conducted as five day intensives over five weeks via Zoom. Salt Baby (2020), a
story rooted in the exploration of emotional labour and questions the implications of capitalising on
relationships, was the first stage of this collaboration — produced by Rizcel Gagawanan and
myself, with the involvement of Miranda Aguilar, Gloria Demillo, and Jules Orcullo. Traditionally,
writers' rooms are hierarchical in nature and we trialled using the space as a means of learning
from one another. Arguably, the beginnings of kapwa emerged from the inherent trust with each
other that came from a transparency in organising and decision making which shaped an open-

68 S. A. Fisher, ‘Curare: to care, to curate.’, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Leeds, November 2013, p.7
69K. Fowle, K. ‘Who Cares? Understanding the Role of the Curator Today’. Cautionary Tales: Critical
Curating, apexart, New York, 2007, p.10
70P. O’Neill, ‘The Curatorial Turn: From Practice to Discourse’. Issues in Contemporary Art and
Performance, J. Rugg & M. Sedgewick (Eds), Intellect Ltd, Bristol, 2007, pp.13-16
71 ibid., pp.17-18
72 ibid., p.19
73 R. Leupin, ‘Postcolonial Curating’, TDR: The Drama Review, vol. 63, no.1, 2019, p.101
74 Reilly, op. cit., p.105
17
ended artistic process. In the essay Against Curating (2017), Stefan Heindrich argues that curating
through exhibition making is ‘undemocratic, authoritarian, opaque and corruptible’75. Heindrich
claims that curators are not necessarily accountable for what they do, and that all the power is
concentrated in the hands of exhibition autocrats.76 This was the logic Riz and I shared in the
creation of the Filipinx Writers’ Room and something we intentionally wanted to avoid. The five of
us spent time carving out a collaborative code of conduct regarding labour and responsibility, and
intersecting where our personal aspirations sat within the project. Observations such as ‘being
aware of how much vocal space you are taking up’ set the premise that no individual was to
dominate the space and everyone was encouraged to participate. What was unique in the
development of Salt Baby, was that we were holding the project and holding each other through
it.77 The deconstruction of hierarchy within our project suggests that the curator shifts from an
authorial role to a collaborative one.

However, I am wary of essentialism and subscribing to notions of kapwa poses an idealistic

solution to systemic issues and collaboration. Or perhaps rather, I am wary of being one of those
curators Lind refers to who preferences curatorial trends that are in essence self-referential and
insular albeit appearing democratic.78 Artist Margarita Certeza Garcia (2013) in the book chapter
titled, Towards a Kapwa Theory of Art, provides the example of experiencing kapwa through her
interactions with Filipino politicians. Noting that kapwa is exemplified in behaviour through being
‘completely approachable’ and giving ‘unreservedly of their time, resources, and talents’.79 While I
do not disagree that kapwa encapsulates this behaviour, I question the context of how it can be
achieved. I contemplate on Nuno sa punso (Figure 6), representing The Hermit card in Kapwa
Tarot, who in Pilipinx mythology is a dwarf that lives on an anthill known to curse trespassers. In
order to be of service to our communities, this card suggests the importance of our boundaries and
spaces to nurture the self. Therefore, to give in such a way that evokes Certeza Garcia’s
experience, is to build up the resources and capacity within and around oneself. Otherwise, it risks
being tainted with hiya and acting as form of martyrdom, or an obligation embedded in maintaining
a capitalist system. I personally felt this need more so in the lead up organising FWR. Unlike other
projects it was a conscious attitude of: if we have the capacity to contribute, then we would,
otherwise we would inform one another and find ways to share labour. I, because of this, felt more
energised and able to give when I came back to the work.

75 S. Heindenrich, ’Against Curating’, &&& Journal, 23 June 2017, viewed on 25 October 2020, https://
tripleampersand.org/against-curating/
76 Ibid.
77 M. Aguilar, feedback, 30 September 2020
78 Lind & Smith, op. cit., p.325
79Certeza Garcia, M., ‘Towards a Kapwa Theory of Art: Working Towards Wholeness in Contemporary
Practice’. Back from the Crocodile’s Belly, Strobel, L. & S. L. Mendoza (Eds), Centre for Babalayan Studies,
California, 2013, p.200
18
 Figure 6

Curator Helena Reckitt (2016) refers to the relational emphasis of curating, prioritising the care of
the artist and artworks, which places curators in a position of becoming susceptible to self-
exploitation and burn out.80 Within an Australian context, those who work in the arts are more likely
to be earning less and juggling multiple jobs.81 For curators—and by extension, any arts worker—
this speaks to the immaterial labour of maintaining social relations and acting as intermediaries in a
relational network.82 It speaks of a larger issue regarding support structures for curators and arts
practitioners amidst a landscape of government funding cuts.83 Eme shouldered the majority of
organising for Usapan Sa La Mesa, which fostered burn out despite having community to lean on.
They reflect on being an artist and wanting to be in control of everything because it is their project,
but also recognising the potential in sharing labour and cultivating nourishment with community
gives rise to questions such as: am I asking too much of them? They note that after the first
iteration of Usapan, members from the community banded together to form the Kapatids (siblings)

80H. Reckitt, 'Support Acts: Curating, Caring and Social Reproduction’, Journal of Curatorial Studies, vol. 5,
no. 1, 2016, pp.7-8
81D. Throsby & K. Petetskaya, ‘Making Art Work: An Economic Study of Professional Artists in Australia’.
Australia Council for the Arts, 12 November 2017, viewed 25 October 2020, pp.173-175
82 Reckitt, op. cit, pp.8-10
83 M. Griffiths, 'Can you make a living as an artist in Australia? Yes, but it's not as easy as it used to be’, ABC
News, 13 November 2017, viewed 1 November 2020, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-13/artists-
struggle-to-make-a-living/9142492
19
and they all spent time helping develop the vision of the second iteration.84 Eme’s experience
speaks of the fine line when working collaboratively, and as I reflect on my own curatorial efforts, I
wonder if it is as complicated and as simple as setting and maintaining expectations.

Paschal recognises kapwa as a concept more attuned to tending to space and creating the
conditions for co-habitation.85 Therefore, invoking kapwa seems to serve as a reprieve when
attempting the balancing act of curating, and dealing with chaos and ambiguity.86 Perhaps the
benefit of kapwa comes from shifting the perspective of exhibition-making as the final result,
towards a marker within a process of sustaining one another. Yet, the emphasis on community and
responsibility to one another does not mean that herd mentality prevails. On the contrary, in the
Filipinx Writers’ Room, by developing a space that was open and supportive in recognising kapwa
amongst us, this allowed us to feel whole within ourselves and our connections, and empowered to
disagree with one another and ask more questions to seek resolutions that benefited the project.
There was an inherent understanding that we were all striving towards a common goal of creating
a story together, and therefore criticisms and questions emerged as a means to develop the work
and encourage a reflexivity of our own processes. One of the points we had raised in our code of
conduct was that we are all on our own journeys, therefore it became imperative to listen,
acknowledge, and call each other in for our perspectives to grow. I think about the halfway point of
the project. We had decided on a concept but the direction of where we were going brought up
some trepidation within me. I reflected on my own biases and patterns influencing my feelings and
if it was worth shaking the boat. Similar thoughts were emerging from individual discussions and I
realised that if we do not speak up, we are only hurting ourselves which would consequently reflect
in how we show up in tending to the space.

We sought feedback particularly from Filipino/a/x and CaLD communities. We asked if the story of
Salt Baby resonated and asked about aspects that they would like improved on. It was important
for us to be accountable to a community outside the five of us. Thus, community was a part of the
process as participants, rather than passive audience, and provided a recognition that the story
was for them too. Perhaps exemplifying kapwa within curatorial practice is in recognising the
process of collaborating as the medium.87 The careful tending of space encourages an
interdisciplinary and intersectional nature, one that extends outwards from the self to locate itself
within wider communities. During the post-performance discussion, one of the titas who attended,
admitted she did not understand the story. Yet, we acknowledged the ability to connect on an
intergenerational level. She added that listening and watching us made her happy and thought of

84 Talastas-Dela Rosa, op. cit., conversation

85 Daantos Berry, op. cit., conversation
86 Sharjah Art Foundation, op. cit., ‘Kidlat Tahimik and Zoe Butt’
87Z. Butt & T. Smith, ‘Zoe Butt: Infrastructural Activism: Alternative Spaces And Curatorial Networks’. Talking
Contemporary Curating, ICI, New York, 2015, p.303
20
her daughter who would have enjoyed it. It was in nourishing these connections that the spirit of
kapwa felt present.

Conclusion
Kapwa refers to co-spirit, a recognition of how we understand ourselves and one another. It
underpins a sense of interconnectedness, in turn shaping our behaviour and relationships to
human and non-human beings. The notion of kapwa can be understood in a variety of ways and
this paper acknowledges a slither of interpretations. Overall, my research suggests suggests that a
recognition of kapwa in curatorship is based on collectivism through an inherent trust and respect
for one another, because we are a universal oneness and to maintain this invokes accountability
and responsibility within that. This may appear in the form of tending to spaces, relationships or
processes that support the collective goal.

As spaces that invoke kapwa continue to emerge, we find the old structures no longer satisfactory
to engage in. For me, the notion of kapwa permeates curatorial practice through considerations of
care and community. At its fullest, kapwa appears to work off a collective intuition. Yet kapwa can
be exemplified through recognising that interconnectedness, responsibility and accountability
become key qualities of sustaining collective goals. Process becomes the medium in which the
learning and relationships grow and develop. Yet, the process benefits from a criticality and
reflexivity to ensure that kapwa can be exemplified and experienced as intended. Kapwa is a
concept that encourages Othered creative practitioners and communities to build solidarity when
working with arts institutions and organisations. The notion of kapwa therefore becomes an
embodiment of the adage: ‘nothing about us without us’.

21
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