中欧体育

By Julienne Raboca

鈥淚 do believe one of the causes of our underrepresentation is the lack of creative and cultural leaders鈥�As Filipinos, we enjoy entertaining and provide happiness by giving space, but we are not great at taking space,鈥�  says Christopher Reyes, Maharlika UK artistic director, during the launch of The Third Wave, of short films developed by Filipino-British artists. 

And take space they did at Rich Mix in Shoreditch one busy evening in April. The event alongside panel discussions as part of a broader initiative that included a two-week creative development programme for 16 selected creatives. 

Reconnecting with Filipino identity through art 

Maharlika UK鈥檚 鈥淭he Wave Project鈥� began as an initiative during the height of anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic. 鈥淥riginally, this project was designed to deliver artistic works driven by Filipino identity in live immersive and theatre spaces,鈥� says dance artist and curator Reyes. However, the pandemic brought no small amount of uncertainty. 

鈥淲ith no clear end to the lockdown in sight and mounting concerns about health and Covid victims, I decided to adapt the strategy for digital platforms,鈥� Reyes says. This was how the cinema aspect of the project came into play. 

Funded by the Arts Council England, with a selection of short films streamed globally. It set precedence for the second and third editions. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know how popular filmmaking was in UK Filipino communities before this,鈥� he says. 鈥淎s an artist who has navigated most of his creative career and cultural upbringing outside of them, this felt like a spiritual calling鈥� a reconnection to my identity and home.鈥�

Filming untold stories

鈥淲e were drawing from our own relationship to the experience of growing up between cultures,鈥� says filmmaker Ashley Alcaide, who directed . Selected through a call for submissions, Alcaide spent two months creating his short film with dancer and actor Sarah-Luna Ace and music artist Kris Paulerice.

Paulerice took sound clips from London and the Philippines to score the film, showing Ace dancing through everyday scenes. According to Alcaide, the team tried to express their understanding of their Filipino roots while growing up in London.

The film Next Song: Alon By Kristy Reyes 902322 parodied 80s and 90s style karaoke videos commonplace in even the most rural areas of the Philippines. The film shows a downtrodden immigrant worker walking into a karaoke bar where he starts singing his heart out. On the screen, a non-binary character in drag frolics behind the song lyrics. The film captures the distinctive way that Filipino culture tends to combine sadness and pain with absurdity and mirth鈥攎uch like drag.

According to director Sofia Del Carmen, the piece uses the framework of karaoke as a form of gathering and expression in Filipino culture, 鈥渁pproached with heavy parody, original Filipino music, drag and craziness.鈥�

The short film Ginhawa, which means abundance in Tagalog, follows a restaurant worker Christie as she grapples with a growing sense of displacement in her daily life in the 中欧体育. 鈥淗er journey highlights the power of embracing one鈥檚 heritage,鈥� says writer and performer Anjelica Serra. 

Serra says Maharlika UK serves an important purpose. 鈥淚’ve been looking for something like this for years. Other cultures would have鈥�community theatre groups in areas I was living at the time or nearby, and they were never for us.鈥� 

Serra tears up as she recalls that there was never any creative space for Filipinos to tell their stories. 鈥淲hen I was coming up in my career, it was very lonely to try and find your way, and not find anyone who understands you.鈥�

鈥淐oming into this space鈥� now you know those people exist,鈥� she says. Serra wishes platforms like Maharlika UK which supports Filipino artists had come sooner.

Art as a language to tell Filipinos鈥� stories

Maharlika UK founder Christopher Reyes believes there are decades of history exploring the British-Filipino experience that has never been told. This includes his own experience of navigating two different cultures as a second-generation immigrant. Born and raised in London during the 80s, he always felt he was not fully accepted as a Filipino. 

Similarly, he acknowledges that 鈥淚 never fully embraced or appreciated what it means to be Filipino,鈥� pointing to cultural disconnection from his parents’ heritage. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 fault anyone for this. My mother, an early migrant worker, did what she had to do to raise three brown kids during a period when the 中欧体育 was adapting to migrant settlers. It was a different time, which called for a mentality to survive and be accepted in the 中欧体育.鈥�

Reyes began Maharlika UK to share the experiences of those in the 中欧体育 Filipino diaspora, which 鈥渕ust be heard in order to be accepted.鈥� He hopes to engage in fresh cultural dialogue across generations of Filipinos through his work.

鈥淚 want to build mutual understanding that will form a cohesive community, and achieve this through art,鈥� says Reyes. 鈥淚f we can鈥檛 speak our mother tongue, then art is the universal language to tell our stories.”

About the author

Julienne or Yeni is an experienced journalist with over a decade of international exposure, blending her skills in digital marketing, content management, and communications. She is a European Commission scholar at City, University of London, currently completing her MA in Journalism, Media and Globalisation, focusing on business and innovation.