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 Queering Pilipinx Aesthetics

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT FEATURING FILM SCREENINGS, LIVE PERFORMANCE, PANEL DISCUSSIONS, VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITION, AND ARTIST DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS.

August 9-11, 2024
Bindlestiff Studio
185 6th Street, SF

Man@ng is Deity (2021) featuring dance artists Johnny Huy Nguyễn and Kao Sebastian Saephanh, photo by Erina C. Alejo.

KULARTS presents Queering Pilipinx Aesthetics, a community building-centered project that will foster creative exchange and move toward a shared field of artistic discourse, while empowering Queer and trans Pilipinx artists and cultural practitioners working in the diaspora.

This program is supported with funding from California Arts Council Impact Projects and digital exhibition co-sponsored by the ARROZidency Filipino American artist-in-residence program.

EVENT SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Opening Reception of Queering Pilipinx Aesthetics Visual Exhibition

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Film Screening featuring short films by Mac Andre Arboleda, Dominique Castelano, Maureen Catbagan, Ray De Mesa, Earl Alfred Paus, Jela Dela Peña, Francis Labra

VIEW THE FULL SHORT FILM PROGRAM →

8:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Conversation with Filmmaker H.P. Mendoza and Writer & Director, Tonilyn A. Sideco.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Queering the Living Archive Panel Discussion
Tonilyn A. Sideco, Moderator – Writer, Director and Creative Educator
Rev Trinity A Ordona, PhD – Activist, Scholar and Historian
Agpalo "Ting" A.J. Alvarez-Maquinta – Multidisciplinary Artist and Cultural Healer
Kimberley Acebo Arteche – Interdisciplinary Artist and Cultural Worker

12:45 PM - 2:15 PM
Creating in the Diaspora Panel Discussion
kali diwa, Moderator – Community Storyteller and Contributing Writer, HELLA PINAY
Giovanni Ortega – Artistic Director, FilAm Arts Teatro
Sydney Loyola – Philippine Dance Master and Choreographer
Gericault De La Rose – Multidisciplinary Artist and Educator
Cece Carpio – Visual Artist, Curator, and Cultural Worker

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
’WAKE’ Artist Talk by Jay Carlon, Choreographer and Dance Artist
Jay Carlon and members of the creative team behind WAKE will discuss their process of building work together in the Filipinx Diaspora.

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
An evening of dance and music performances featuring Haraya Dance Project, Pinay Voltron, Jess DeFranco, Johan Casal, Reese Fernandez, Sir Acha, and Adrian Clutario.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 11

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Practicing your Artistic Purpose Panel Discussion
Aimee Espiritu, M. Ed, Moderator – Espiritu Consulting
Javier Stell-Frésquez – Artist and Producer/Curator, Weaving Spirits Festival of Two-Spirit Performance, Weaving Spirits
Reese Fernandez – Artist and Donor Communications Manager, BAYCAT
Johan Casal – Artist and Director, Kuya Johan Productions
O.M. France Viana – Artist and Curator, ARROZidency

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
"Conjuring Your Coin" Grant Writing Workshop with Beatrice L. Thomas, Director, Authentic Arts & Media
Designed for arts administrators and professionals, this session enhances skills through peer learning, AI tool exploration, and collaborative activities. Participants will develop strategies to craft compelling proposals that genuinely showcase artistic practices. Engage in prompts, journaling, and breakout groups to address common challenges and refine application skills.

3:10 PM - 4:40 PM
Navigating Grants, Funding, Fiscal Support Panel Discussion
Renee Cyla Villasenor, Moderator – Director of Exhibitions + Operations, Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco
Jonell Molina – Program Officer, San Francisco Arts Commission
Melanie Elvena – Artistic Director, Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center
Wayne Hazzard – Executive Director, Dancers Group
Czarina Garcia – Media Fund Manager, Center for Asian American Media

For more information, please visit our FAQ page.

 
 

 Queering Pilipinx Aesthetics
Short Films Program

 

PERSONAL NA MITOLOHIYA
Directed by Dominique Castelano

ARTIST BIO
As a transgender artist originating from the Philippines, their journey to America for safety and medical access ignited the inspiration for their artistic pursuits. Settling in New York City, they secured the first artist residency with The High Line Nine, producing "Impressionique I," which earned first runner-up in the 2022 Stonewall Painting Contest. Hard work and dedication led to contributions in various publications, authentically addressing feminism and queer POC liberation. Recently awarded a grant from Creatives Rebuild NY and sponsored by The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and LMCC, they center marginalized voices in their work. Committed to social change, they strive to uplift those historically disenfranchised within their community. Having faced homelessness, workplace bullying and separation from family, they collaborate with New Alternatives, a shelter for LGBTQIA+ youth in Manhattan, involving mentoring queer youth and allocating a portion of sales proceeds from their work to the organization.

GLIMPSE
Directed by Earl Alfred Paus

ARTIST BIO
Earl Paus (They/Them/Siya) is a queer Pilipinx-American, multiple award-winningfilmmaker & theatre Director & Actor. Earl creates intentionally by acting out thetruth so others can live theirs.“Glimpse”is their debut short film as a first timefilmmaker, & premiered at the San Diego Filipino Film Festival in 2023. Earl’sartistic style is inspired by the 90’s New Queer Cinema movement & coming of ageindie films. Inspired by directors like Gregg Araki,horror & fantasy films likeSuspiria, and directors like Ari Aster & JordanPeele. Earl often weaves themes ofcultural myths & the controversial use of magic & spirituality as a way out forunderdog characters living on the fringes of society. Earl is also a collective memberof The Fil-Am Film Collective and hosts a weekly Actor Studio workshop series as anaffinity space for AANHPI creatives in their hometown of San Diego. (earlpaus.com)

I AM BABAYLAN
Directed by Francis Labra

ARTIST BIO
Francis Lab also known as Khan T., is a Filipinx non-binary multimedia artist and dragqueen, intertwining performance art and mixed media to explore themes of reconnectionand remembrance. Drawing from Filipino Indigenous wisdom and the Divine Feminine,their devotional offerings are a meditation on remembering through the power of ritualand ceremony, weaving them into their creative expression and inviting audiences into ajourney of self-discovery and connecti

AKING SENAKULO
Directed by Jela Dela Peña

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
As a first generation immigrant that moved to Canada at 18 years old, Dela Peña never had the chance to explore his identiy outside the performance of gender norms influenced by Catholicism. It was only in his early 20s that he spent in Montreal when we started to unlearn the ramifications of colonization.

Having two people casted as one person in the film can embody multiple interpretations. True acceptance of oneself is painful yet can be beautifully intimate at the same time. This imagery can also be seen as looking at yourself through layers of neo-colonialism and late-capitalism. All the while showing the constant struggle of trying to embrace yourself as both a living proof of your pre-colonial ancestors and a child of the revolutionary leaders that fought these settlers. There is no definite answer to who these beings on the screen are, nor does it force the viewer to pick a label. Like gender and identity, it is rather fluid. It is the essence of finding that comfort of someone that just understands. Through your own sufferings, your own Senakulo, may it be your ancestors or the person next to you watching this film, you are not alone. In a community, your struggle is mine too.

JUICY FRUIT

Directed by Maureen Catbagan

Maureen Catbagan is a Pilipinx-American, multi-media artist based in Brooklyn whose work engages social collectivity and explores the intersections of immigration, labor, and visibility. Collaborative projects include Abang-guard with artist Jevijoe Vitug, Flux Factory, and Yams Collective. Catbagan has exhibited in venues such as PS 122 Gallery, The Center for Book Arts, Governors Island, the Rockland Center for the Arts in New York, and The Contemporary Museum of Honolulu. They have performed in venues such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art Abrons Art Center, DUMBO Art in New York, and Art Quarter Budapest. Fellowships and grants include 2024-25 Queens Museum-Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Emerging Artists, 2021 NYFA-City Artists Corps Grant, and 2020 Critical Minded for Cultural Critics Grant.  

THE FUNCTION OF FICTION IS ABSTRACTION AND SIMULATION OF SOCIAL EXPERIENCE

Directed By Mac Andre Arboleda

Mac Andre Arboleda was born in the Philippines and is currently based in London. His work is  on https://sickinternet.me. 

GET FREE
Directed by Ray De Mesa

ARTIST BIO
Ray de Mesa is a queer Filipino American writer, director,producer, and editor from Pasadena, CA. His most recent shortfilm, GET FREE (2022), received multiple awards including an SFOMuseum Video Arts Program Grant, the Light Iron Post ProductionAward, and the Best Picture Award (2022) presented by SanFrancisco State University. The film also screened at several filmfestivals nationwide including Outfest Fusion Los Angeles,Melbourne Queer Film Festival, among others. #SLAY is hisculminating thesis film as a Cinema MFA graduate at SFSU, and issupported by a Barbara Hammer Film Grant. Ray is interested inproducing narratives that center queer perspectives on a varietyof cultural topics.

 

Please Note: The films in our screening may contain mature content and may not be suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. Warning: films may contain scenes with mature themes, strong language, and/or graphic content. Includes flashing images that may cause discomfort or trigger seizures for individuals with photosensitive epilepsy. Please take necessary precautions.

 
 

 Creative + Production Team

Johan Casal

Project Coordinator & Curatorial Team Member

Johan Casal is a multidisciplinary artist based in the Bay Area producing work in film, music, theater, and dance. He performed as a lead dancer in Netflix’s production of “The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Live Experience,” and directed and produced an original feature film, “Manalo: The Movie Musical,” highlighting the shared struggles of Filipinx-Americans and the diverse cultures of the Philippines.

O.M. France Viana

Digital Gallery Curator

O.M. France Viana is a Bay Area artist, curator, art historian, writer, mythologist and cultural psychopomp who chronicles how Filipinx immigration is redefining what it means to be American. Active in the community, she serves as Commissioner of the Asian Art Museum and on the boards of Philippine International Aid and SOMA Pilipinas’ Arts & Culture committee. She is the founder of the ARROZidency, a FilAmerican artist residency; and publisher of Salo-SALA a directory of Filipino American artist-run spaces.

Aimee Espiritu, M. Ed

Community Consultant & Curatorial Team Member

Aimee Espiritu, M. Ed (she/they) launched Espiritu Consulting in October 2017 based on her 10 years of experience providing Management in the Arts as well as Strategic Planning and Partnerships, for non-profit organizations and school districts. Prior to this, Aimee was an Arts Educator and Administrator for 14 years with a primary focus of engaging young people in classrooms, museums and arts programs through creative youth development, curriculum design, exhibit development, and peer-to-peer training.

Wilfred Galila

Tech Director

Wilfred Galila is a multimedia artist and writer who lives and runs trails in the San Francisco Bay Area. His films were screened at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and his art installations were exhibited at several venues in San Francisco. He is a 2018 nominee for the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Design for the KULARTS production, Incarcerated 6×9.

 

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Meet the Artists & Panelists

H.P. Mendoza

H.P. Mendoza is a Filipino-American filmmaker best known for his work as screenwriter, composer and lyricist on Colma: The Musical (2006), as well as his art-house horror film, I Am a Ghost (2014) called “H.P. Mendoza’s objet d’art” by Dennis Harvey of Variety. After world premiering at Tribeca 2023, Mendoza recently won the 2023 Best Director award at the Ouray International Film Festival for The Secret Art of Human Flight starring Academy Award nominee Paul Raci.

Tonilyn A. Sideco

Tonilyn A. Sideco (they/he) is a SF & Brooklyn-based writer, director and creative educator for both stage and film. Toni has 15+ years experience in the non-profit sector and public school system as a counselor, case manager and creative healing program coordinator and educator working with queer youth and elders and young people of color in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York. 

Agpalo "Ting" A.J. Alvarez-Maquinta

A Mover, Multidisciplinary artist, and cultural healer/practitioner, Ting is a queer, non-binary Afro-Pinoy descendent who uses their art as a form of visual and oral storytelling like ancestors before them, and instills a holistic and spiritual approach to all forms of art. With an extensive background in root work, as well as being a mammadto and mangngagas, Ting also is deeply entrenched in historical work documenting family history and precolonial Ilokano culture, and learning about living cultures.

Giovanni Ortega

Giovanni Ortega is so honored to continuously work with KULARTS since 2008. Directing credits include Smash, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them as well as Nicky, a modernized adaptation of Chekhov's Ivanov at Art of Acting Studio; The Secret Sharer (DNA Works), Ghost Waltz (Assistant Director/Choreographer, Latino Theatre Co), and more. Playwright credits: The Butterfly of Chula Vista (San Diego Rep commission), Criers for Hire.

Cece Carpio

Visual artist, curator, and cultural worker based in the Bay Area. Cece has produced and exhibited work in Cuba, Fiji Islands, Guam, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Norway, Philippines, United Kingdom and throughout the United States. She has been awarded the Rockwood Institute Fellowship for leaders engaged in the Arts as critical agents of change.

Jay Carlon

Jay Carlon (he/they) is a queer dance artist, choreographer and community organizer whose work facilitates shared healing, exploring post-colonial identity, ancestry, and the complex queer/Filipinx experience. The youngest of 12 in a migrant family, Carlon connects a global network of Filipinx creatives and communities. Named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 To Watch,” Carlon has spoken and led workshops at Johns Hopkins, UCLA, UArts, USC, SAIC, and Asians @ Google. Photo by Marissa Mooney.

Reese Fernandez

Reese Fernandez (they/them) is a writer, dancer, and drag deity on Tongva and Kizh land in Long Beach, CA. As a nonbinary, gender-fluid, and genre-fluid Pilipinx-American artist, they explore themes of identity in the diaspora, mental health, and embodiment.  Reese has had poetry and prose featured in MERCADO VICENTE and The Citadel. Their animated short film Seeing Lily is currently in post-production. They currently work as the Donor Communications Manager at BAYCAT.

Renee Villasenor

Renee Villasenor (they/them) is an arts worker based in the Ramaytush Ohlone homelands (San Francisco Bay Area). Their work, influenced by their identities as a queer, Undocumented immigrant and their love of affect theory, aims to dismantle white supremacy in arts institutions through community-centered collaboration. Villasenor is currently the Director of Exhibitions and Operations at the Institute of Contemporary Art in San Francisco.
Photo by Joanna Garcia Cheran.

Wayne Hazzard

Wayne Hazzard is the co-founder and executive director of Dancers’ Group. Hazzard is a leader in the service field who is known for his work with fiscal sponsorship and on new program development; and he was acknowledged as a 2015 Gerbode Professional Development Fellow. Before his manifold career in arts management, Hazzard had a distinguished 20-year career performing with many notable choreographers and companies including the Joe Goode Performance Group, Margaret Jenkins Dance Co, Ed Mock & Co, June Watanabe, Emily Keeler, Aaron Osborne and more.

Joël Barraquiel Tan

Joël Barraquiel Tan (siya/he/all pronouns) is the Executive Director at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. He is the author of Type O Negative (Red Hen) and various works on identity, AIDS, and queer politics appearing in academic and commercial venues. Joël co-founded LA’s Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team Health Center and was the Director of Community Engagement at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts from 2004-2015.

Rev Trinity A Ordona, PhD

Rev Trinity A Ordona, PhD, is an award-winning queer Pilipinx activist, scholar and historian with a 55-year history of civil rights organizing in people of color, women’s and LGBTQ communities here and abroad. Today through Inner Beauty Healing, her self-healing practice with her sister, Francesca, Trinity works with survivors of trauma and violence to access their Inner Wisdom to identify and heal their soul wounds.

kali diwa

kali diwa [they//themme], a bastos Bay Area post-binary pin@y femme, moves through the world as a community storyteller, smut slut, and a vessel for healing and change in the diaspora. kali strives to consistently dismantle all the f*cked up ways that heteronormativity messes with our beautiful queer minds as well as abolish all systems that keep us from collective liberation through emergent strategy and pleasure activism.

Gericault De La Rose

Gericault De La Rose is a queer trans Filipinx, multidisciplinary artist, and educator. While developing her art practice, she worked as a Co-curator of Philippine Objects at the Field Museum of Natural History where she organized a series of monthly events called Pamanang Pinoy using the objects within the collection as conduits for community discussion. Most recently in 2022, she received the San Francisco Foundation’s Jack K. and Gertrude Murphy Award and received her MFA from UC Berkeley in 2023.

Sydney Loyola

For over three decades, Sydney Loyola has created dance works performed by cultural groups in the US, Philippines, Asia, and Europe. She toured internationally as a principal dancer of Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company. She is the co-founder of Haraya Dance Project—an ensemble that encourages initiative and participation among Filipino-American trans artists in SF.

Javier Stell-Frésquez

Javier Stell-Frésquez (she/he/they pronouns) serves Indigenous communities of the San Francisco Bay. Many years volunteering on the BAAITS Two-Spirits Powwow Committee have lead to her producing Weaving Spirits Festival of Two-Spirit Performance. She currently sits on the BAAITS board. She has life-long performance experience spread across myriad forms, including: Indigenous contemporary, vogue, flamenco, and performance art.

Melanie Elvena

An arts organizer, activist, and independent curator living and working in the SF Bay Area, she received her B.A. in Art History from the University of California Irvine with an emphasis in Modern and Contemporary Art. Melanie currently serves as Artistic Director at Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center where she is committed to the community impact and growth of its programs. Melanie also serves as Programs Manager at Asian American Women Artists Association and was the APAture Festival Coordinator for Kearny Street Workshop in the multidisciplinary arts festival’s return in 2013.

Czarina Garcia

Czarina Garcia is the Media Fund Manager at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). Born and raised in the Philippines, she received her bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts from De La Salle University-Manila. Since migrating to the Bay Area and joining CAAM in 2017, she has worked with the organization in multiple capacities and now administers CAAM's Media Fund initiatives, in accordance with the organization's strategic direction and Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) guidelines.

Jonell T. Molina

Jonell T. Molina (he/him/his) is a Program Officer in the Community Investments Department with the SF Arts Commission. As a 2nd generation Filipino-America and son of immigrants, he focuses on providing quality guidance, support, and access to resources/services/events through collaboration with community stakeholders. As an alumni of the Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP) his critical pedagogical praxis and responsiveness is rooted in community experiences. Jonell graduated with his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from SF State.

QUEERING PILIPINX AESTHETICS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Please reach out to admin@kularts-sf.org if your question is not answered here. Thank you!

WHERE CAN I PURCHASE TICKETS?

Tickets are available for purchase on the Queering Pilipinx Aesthetic (QPA) webpage. Please find pricing details for each program activity below.

QPA Short Film Screenings, Visual Arts Exhibition and Discussion
Friday, August 9
Advance Online Tickets: $25
At The Door: $30

Queering the Living Archive Panel Discussion
Saturday, August 10
Advance Online Tickets: $15
At The Door: $20

Creating in the Diaspora Panel Discussion
Saturday, August 10
Advance Online Tickets: $15
At The Door: $20

’WAKE’ Artist Talk by Jay Carlon
Saturday, August 10
Advance Online Tickets: $15
At The Door: $20

QPA Dance and Music Performances
Saturday, August 10
Advance Online Tickets: $30
At The Door: $35

Practicing your Artistic Purpose Panel Discussion
Sunday, August 11
Advance Online Tickets: $15
At The Door: $20

Grant Writing Workshop with Beatrice L. Thomas
Sunday, August 11
Advance Online Tickets: $35
At The Door: $40

Navigating Grants, Funding, Fiscal Support Panel Discussion
Sunday, August 11
Advance Online Tickets: $15
At The Door: $20

No one turned away for lack of funds at the door, pending seating availability. Not applicable to presale ticket purchases.

Special Offer

  • Add all Saturday and/or Sunday program activities to receive $15.00 off at checkout and enjoy a complimentary lunch (TBD)

  • Add full weekend program activities to receive $10.00 off at checkout and enjoy a complimentary lunch (TBD)


ATTENDEE GUIDELINES

  • Doors will open 30 minutes prior to showtime.

  • The program will begin on time—seats are on a first come, first serve basis—we encourage folks to come 15-30 minutes prior to showtime to find your seat.

  • Face masks/covering is not required, but encouraged. Featured participants will be unmasked during the panel discussions and performances. We are not requiring proof of vaccination.

  • Please have your digital ticket with QR code ready at the door.

Please reach out to admin@kularts-sf.org for questions.


MOBILITY & WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

Bindlestiff Studio is accessible to people using wheeled devices and wheelchairs. Areas for audience members who use wheelchairs can be reserved and will be clearly marked. Please reach out to admin@kularts-sf.org for additional assistance and information.


WHAT IS THE CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICY?

We can refund ticket prices minus handling fees if requested 24 hours before showtime for urgent medical emergencies and COVID-related concerns. For all other circumstances, we can convert the tickets into a KULARTS donation. Ticket exchanges are available for a $5.00 fee per ticket, subject to availability. Please email admin@kularts-sf.org for assistance.


HOW DO I GET THERE?

LOCATION

Bindlestiff Studio
185 6th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

PARKING

970 Howard Street Parking
Fifth & Mission / Yerba Buena Parking Garage

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

BART — The theater is a ten minute walk from the Powell BART Station. Exit station and head east down 5th St, take a right onto Howard St, right onto 6th St and Bindlestiff will be located on the right.

MUNI — Bus lines 14 Mission, 12 Folsom, 27 Bryant all pass within 1-2 blocks of the theater.

Check 511.org for other public transport options.


RESTROOMS

ADA compliant restrooms will be available at Bindlestiff Studio. We encourage attendees to use the restroom prior to showtime.