Often, an artist acts as a mediator between underlying tensions of self and other, belonging between self and community. The forms that emerge are a hybrid of the artist’s sensibilities, aims, and the influence of their environment.
It can be inferred that there exists an inextricable relationality between the artist and the milieu in which they dwell. This relationship takes on a seemingly more complicated form when considering the effects of displacement, forced or otherwise, in the context of the formation of a diaspora.
This paper seeks to open up different perspectives on how to approach meaning-making in the context of art and art practice within the diaspora. Art practice is akin to the artist’s lived experience as it becomes a means to disillusion preconceived notions on migration, displacement, materiality, and context. Through a reading of selected artworks produced with the subject of Filipino diaspora, this paper attempts to elucidate the sensibilities of its artists, an image and conception of their milieu, their perception of it, and the alchemic manifestation of how they relate to its underpinnings. Art and its artifices become an embodiment of a dynamic Filipino identity beyond the boundaries of its sovereignty.
Borders as Mirrors, Identity as Adaptation
Homi K. Bhabha presents the concept of interstices at the convergence of identities and cultures that interact with each other. This challenges preconceived notions of materiality and context and provides a dynamic understanding of the tensions that come into play: nation-diaspora, center-periphery, and community-individual, to name a few. What Bhabha suggests is a more dynamic approach that goes beyond these limiting binaries. Bhabha emphasizes:
“What is theoretically innovative, and politically crucial, is the need to think beyond narratives of originary and initial subjectivities and to focus on those moments or processes that are produced in the articulation of cultural differences.” (1994, 1)
These interstices, in-between spaces, provide the necessary means for migrant artists to negotiate these differences, assert their selfhood within a community, and invoke a discourse or dialogue to navigate through these apparent intersubjectivities in culture, and in their struggles.
Diasporic communities frequently refuse to fully integrate into their new environments and preserve their unique cultural identities. Understanding their hybrid subjectivities requires an acknowledgment of the acts of remembrance and cultural production that express this perceived resistance. Tobias Wofford writes: “The range of subjects explored through the lens of diaspora suggests the potential for the term to bring diversity into art-historical discourses while also challenging normalized categories of difference to which we have become accustomed” (2016, 74). In addition to acknowledging the effect of migration on the dispersed community, diasporic notions of belonging have the power to upend deeply ingrained identities and challenge systems of canonization and categorization that are essential in the discipline of art history. It is then imperative to zoom into these particularities in recognizing a dynamic art history that transcends a historiography solely regarded to the past. This provides a possibility to piece together an art practice both deeply rooted in conceptions of the artist’s homeland that also actively engages with the locality it operates in.
The concept of cultural identity is examined in relation to the Caribbean and African diaspora in Stuart Hall’s essay “Cultural Identity and Cinematic Representation” (1989). The first assertion sees identity as a collective, shared history and common cultural codes that provide a stable, unchanging foundation for individuals within a group. This view focuses on the discovery and expression of a “true self” that lies beneath more superficial or imposed identities. The second perspective sees cultural identity as a dynamic, continuing process, and Hall contends that it is more accurate and helpful. This method acknowledges that representation, memory, narrative, and fantasy all play a role in the ongoing formation and reconfiguration of identity. Hall asserts that rather than being absolutes, cultural identities are points of identification that are created within historical and cultural discourses. This perspective acknowledges the impact of colonialism and the power dynamics involved in the representation and positioning of black experiences. Hall’s perspective is crucial in understanding how diasporic artists navigate their identities. The dynamic nature of cultural identity allows these artists to engage with their heritage in ways that are both reflective and innovative. Their work becomes a space for negotiating the past and the present, the personal and the communal.
Fig. 1 — 3 Augustine Paredes, “CookingAdoboAttheHea(r)tof25.2048°N,55.2708°E” Series, 2019 (Image courtesy of the artist; augustineparedes.com)
Identity as Practice
Globalization has opened pathways to a hegemonic culture of migration in the Philippines, more so institutionalized by the government and the ruling elite. Robyn Magalit Rodriguez presents case studies on the transnationalism of Philippine Migrant workers in the Arab Gulf region through the operations of Migrante-International in the region. His study reiterates the precarious nature of citizenship in the Gulf region: “Philippine migrants, in short, do not enjoy the rights of citizenship (including economic rights) in their countries of employment; neither are they able to assert their human rights through international conventions” (2011, 51) The formation of a Filipino diaspora in the Gulf region is rooted in precarity and temporary citizenship, a residency limited by the length of a migrant worker’s contract. Rodriguez’s study on Filipino migrant workers in the Arab Gulf region reveals the precarious nature of their citizenship and the temporary nature of their residency, contrasting sharply with the more permanent status available to Filipino migrants in the US, for example. Crossing national borders inscribes and polices identities, adding layers of complexity to the migrant experience.
The artist shapeshifts—they mold their art practice into a cast made of two halves, of both the culture of a locality they reside in and of the Identity that anchors their practice. In Augustine Paredes’ “Cooking Adobo at the Hea(r)t of 25.2048° N, 55.2708° E”, the artist juxtaposes a self-portrait with a photo that depicts ingredients for cooking adobo, emblematic of Filipino culture. He reappropriates the adobo with chicken, onions, garlic and potatoes sourced from a grocery in Dubai where he is based. A handwritten recipe that includes “heat, blood, sweat and tears” is included in the series. His work speaks to the lengths migrants go to adapt and survive, making do with available resources. The adobo, a staple Filipino dish, becomes a symbol of cultural resilience and adaptation, reflecting the hybrid identity that emerges from the migrant experience.
Neferti Tadiar examines and problematizes the ways by which the corporeal body of the Filipina domestic helper is perceived, objectified, victimized, and in the process becomes a symbol of the diaspora of Filipino migrant workers. A diaspora conceived through the exportation of Filipino labor proves to have moral and social implications for Philippine society which in turn “translates into an economic concern for its competitive advantage on the labor market.” (Tadiar 1997, 168) Her paper points to a “hegemonic national anxiety over the global status of the Filipino people” where on the one hand, concern is expressed on the outright exploitation of overseas Filipino workers while reaping the economic advantages of their labor on another. Certain solutions have already been proposed such as the prevention of women from working abroad, however, these do not necessarily address the “manufacturing of Filipina maids”. Tadiar interprets this “phasing out” not as a total ban but a regulation and a “regaining of control over the Philippine production of labor for the global community, and thereby reasserting the nation’s agency and subjectivity in the eyes of the world (as opposed to the objectivity of its labour which comprises its “body”)” (Tadiar 1997, 169). The perspective must shift from a hegemonic system of labor to a keen understanding of what drives the majority of the population to work abroad: poverty, a pessimistic outlook on the progression of the Philippine economy, and lack of trust in the Philippine government, to name a few. Without considering to address these issues, this exodus of Filipino workers would persist indefinitely.
Tadiar’s analysis reveals the deep entanglements between national identity, labor migration, and global capitalism. The representation of Filipina domestic helpers in both national and global discourses reflects broader anxieties about the Philippines’ position in the world. These representations often reduce migrant workers to economic units, overlooking their complex identities and experiences.
Xyza Cruz Bacani’s early photographic art practice portrays Hong Kong as seen through a migrant’s keen eye. She has also shed light on many migrant stories and their struggles through her journalistic practice. Bacani’s black-and-white street photography captures the isolation and marginalization experienced by migrant workers in Hong Kong. Her work often juxtaposes the affluence of the city with the hidden lives of its laborers. The strangers she photographed on the streets are dwarfed by the intimidating scale of Hong Kong’s cityscape. With the strong intent to isolate her subject matter, she mirrors her sentiments of the city. She projects her inner self onto the photos she takes. Artists like Xyza Cruz Bacani use their work to challenge these reductive representations. Her work, informed by her background as a second-generation domestic worker, explores themes of labor migration, transnational identity, and climate change. Bacani’s photographs not only document the realities of migrant life but also serve as a form of resistance against the dehumanizing narratives that often surround migrant workers.
Fig. 4 — 6 Xyza Cruz Bacani’s black and white photos of Hong Kong (Image courtesy of the artist; xyzacruzbacani.com)
Identity as Nexus, Art as World-making
Wawi Navarroza’s “The Other Shore” exhibited in Silverlens New York presents a body of work that invites her audience to a worldbuilding informed by her photographic art practice that spans her moving between Manila, Madrid, and Istanbul. In “Mouth of Pearls / Oryental & Overseas (Self-Portrait)” (2022) She is seen seated in a bricolage of visually striking objects. In the corner is a balikbayan box covered with cloth. She holds a necklace of pearls in her mouth as she checks her reflection in a mirror. Her self-portraits reflect years of accumulating experiences and objects from various cultures. These works are rich with symbols and artifacts from Navarroza’s travels, creating a visual narrative that intertwines personal history with broader cultural movements.
Navarroza’s work exemplifies how diasporic artists engage in world-making, creating spaces that reflect their complex identities and experiences. This process involves both a negotiation of their heritage and an engagement with new cultural environments. Through their art, these artists build worlds that are inclusive, dynamic, and reflective of their multifaceted identities.
Fig. 7 Wawi Navarroza, Mouth of Pearls / Oryental & Overseas (Self-Portrait), 2022 (Image courtesy of the artist; wawinavarroza.com)
Lauren Berlant offers a formative approach in working with these apparent ambivalences. Berlant spoke on how affect and emotion drive a person’s sense of belonging ahead of reason or deliberate thought in public settings. It is an intimacy that demands a “both/and” perspective, meaning that each culture or identity that interacts with another maintains a hardened identity while remaining receptive to the other. They explain that the “intimate is everywhere: you bring it everywhere and it circulates everywhere. It registers as intensities of attachment and recognition, inferred and explicit, that pass across people, groups and movements.” (Demeyer, 2021)
The exploration of identity in art practice, within the context of diaspora, reveals the dynamic interplay between personal experience, cultural memory, and environmental influence. These artists challenge and redefine the boundaries of identity and belonging, creating works that resonate with their complex, multifaceted realities. Their art becomes a space for negotiating the past and the present, the personal and the communal, reflecting the ongoing process of identity formation in an increasingly interconnected world. Through their work, Filipino diasporic artists contribute to a more nuanced and inclusive understanding of Filipino cultural identity, one that recognizes the fluidity and hybridity that characterize our contemporary world. The migrant artist situated in the diaspora is an agent that manifests these affects. The physical sovereignty of the Philippines no longer encompasses Philippine art. The Filipino migrant artist pushes forward a practice that is expansive and accommodating to the world at large. ■
Works Cited
Bhabha, Homi K. 1994. The Location of Culture. Routledge.
Demeyer, Hans. 2021. “Lauren Berlant on Intimacy as World-Making.” Extra Extra Magazine, 6 Oct. 2021, extraextramagazine.com/talk/lauren-berlant-on-intimacy-as-world-making/
Hall, Stuart. 1989. “CULTURAL IDENTITY AND CINEMATIC REPRESENTATION.” Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, no. 36 (1989): 68–81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44111666.
Rodriguez, Robyn Magalit. 2011. “Philippine Migrant Workers’ Transnationalism in the Middle East.” International Labor and Working-Class History, vol. 79, no. 1, 2011, pp. 48–61, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0147547910000384.
Tadiar, Neferti Xina. 1997. “Domestic bodies of the Philippines.” Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, vol. 12, no. 2, Oct. 1997, pp. 153–191, https://doi.org/10.1355/sj12-2b.
Wofford, Tobias. 2016. “Whose Diaspora?” Art Journal, vol. 75, no. 1, 2 Jan. 2016, pp. 74–79, https://doi.org/10.1080/00043249.2016.1171542.