Art Connects | Ralph Escamillan, Gino Gonzales and Carlo Eliserio on Piña

Thursday, May 13 | 5 PM PST or Friday, May 14 | 8 AM in Manila, Philippines

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Join us for a special talk with artist Ralph Escamillan, fashion historian Gino Gonzales and textile designer Carlo Reporen Eliserio to share the history and everlasting significance of piña textile in the Philippines and beyond.

Piña fabric is woven from pineapple leaves, which are stripped, dried and then tied to form a continuous strand. The resulting lustrous, transparent cloth is used to make a variety of products, from clothing to bags, scarves and even furniture upholstery. Pineapples were first introduced in the Philippines by the Spanish, making piña a lasting legacy of colonialism. Today, piña textile weaving has become an integral part of Filipino culture.

Piña is at the centre of Escamillan’s newest performance work under his company FakeKnot. In this Art Connects, Escamillan will invite us into his research, and, joined by Gonzales and Eliserio, they will take us on a journey through the history of piña—how it is cultivated, woven and worn historically. 

This talk, being offered as part of the Gallery’s Institute of Asian Art, will offer simultaneous translation from English into Tagalog.

Questions? Submit them during the Zoom presentation using the Q&A function. You can also engage with your fellow attendees and panelists during the event using the Chat function.

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ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION

CART Services (Communication Access Realtime Translation) are available for Public Programs upon request. Please provide seven business days of advance notice prior to an event. We will make every effort to meet requests made outside of this window of time.

To place a request, please contact Stephanie Bokenfohr by email at sbokenfohr@vanartgallery.bc.ca

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Ralph Escamillan is a Canadian-born, Queer, Filipino/a/x diasporic dancer, choreographer and community leader based in Vancouver, BC. He creates work that questions identity, traditions, clothing and the influence of pop culture in a globalising society. His experience has given him the opportunity to see the discrepancy of privilege in society, and he hopes to shift this narrative through his work under FakeKnot. He believes the body is powerful and important in communicating these ideas, and we should support the body’s autonomy/agency, political values and ancestral legacy. www.ralphescamillan.com

Gino Gonzales has designed sets and costumes for over 100 theatre productions in Manila, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Japan and New York. He has done design work for television film and museum exhibitions as well. Gonzales is a former student and apprentice of Philippine National Artist Salvador Bernal, who encouraged him to pursue further studies in Set and Costume Design. Gino attended the Master of Fine Arts program in Theater Design at New York University with the aid of a Fulbright Scholarship and an Asian Cultural Council grant. In 2015, he co-authored a book entitled Fashionable Filipinas: A History of the Philippine National Dress 1860-1960 with Mark Lewis Higgins. He was also lecturer at the Fine Arts Program of the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines. He is currently the Artistic Director of TERNOCON–a terno-making convention and competition designed to encourage the proper construction and use of the Philippine National Dress.

Carlo Reporen Eliserio is an expert weaver, trainer and master natural dyer. For the past five years, he has been an advocate of natural dyeing for sustainable consumption and production. He comes from a family of pineapple fiber producers and expert weavers in the municipality of Balete in the Province of Aklan in the Philippines. He did his natural dye training and seminar program at the Philippine Textile and Research Institute under the Department of Science and Technology. He has since trained dyers and indigenous fabric producers in the provinces of Aklan, Ilo-ilo City, Guimaras and Cebu City. He is currently training and promoting natural dye techniques to entrepreneurs, local producers, indigenous fabric weavers, and indigenous community in Aklan. Eliserio is an active advocate committee chairman of the Aklanon Pina Fiber Producers Association and a member of Association of Civil Engineering Students.

Pag-uugnay ng Sining nina Ralph Escamillan, Gino Gonzales at Carlo Eliserio sa telang Piña

Huwebes, Ika-13 ng Mayo, 2021/  Ika 5:00 ng hapon, Vancouver Art Gallery

Manila, Philippines Biyernes, Ika-14 ng Mayo, 2021/ Ika 8:00 ng umaga

MAGPAREHISTRO

Samahan ninyo kmi para sa isang natatanging talakayan kasama ang artista n si Ralph Escamillan, fashion designer Gino Gonzales at ang textile designer na si Carlo Reporen Eliserio na sa inyo ay magbabahagi ng kasaysayan at walang hanggang kahalagahan ng Piña Textile sa Pilipinas.

Ang telang Piña ay habi mula sa mga dahon ng pinya at ito ang pinakatampok sa pinakabagong pagtatanghal ni Escamillan sa pamamahala ng kanyang kumpanya, ang FakeKnot. Dito sa Art Connects, iniimbitahan kayo ni Escamillan sa kanyang pananaliksik kasama sina Gonzales at Eliserio, na aagapay sa atin sa isang paglalakbay buhat sa kasaysayan ng Piña, kung paano ito nalinang, hinabi at ibihis na makasaysayan.

Ang talakayan ay maghahatid ng dalawang pagsasalin mula sa Ingles at Tagalog ng magkapanabay.

Sa mga Katanungan? Ito ay maaaring ibigay sa panahon ng Zoom presentation gamit ang Q at A function. Maari rin kayong makisali sa mga dadalo at sa mga tagapagsalita habang nasa kaganapan gamit ang chat function.

Baguhan sa Zoom? Magparehistro at dumalo sa Webinar.

IMPORMASYON PARA MAI-ACCESS

CART Services (Communication Access Realtime Translation) magagamit sa Programang Pampubliko sa mga kahilingan. Ipabatid ang kahilingan 7 araw bago ang araw ng panayam.

Mangyaring makipag-ugnayan kay Stephanie Bokenfohr sa pamamagitan ng Email: sbokenfohr@vanartgallery.bc.ca

TUNGKOL SA MGA TAGAPAGSALITA

Ralph Escamillan  ipinanganak sa Canada, Filipino, Mananayaw, Koreograpo (tagalikha ng kilos at galaw) at namumuno sa komunidad sa Vancouver, BC.  Ang mga gawa ni Escamillan ay lumilikha ng kakaiba at kamangha-manghang pagkakakilanlan, tradisyon, pananamit at may impluwensya sa kultura ng pop sa pagbabagong lipunan. Ang mga naging karanasan niya ang  naging oportunidad na makita ang pagkakaiba-iba ng pribilehiyo sa lipunan at inaasam niya na mabago ang mga ito sa pamamagitan ng kanyang mga likhang gawa batay sa FakeKnot.

Naniniwala si Escamillan na ang katawan ay makapangyarihan at may halaga sa paghahatid ng mga kaisipan at kaalaman. Sinasabi rin niya na kailangang suportahan ang awtonomiya ng katawan, kahalagahang politikal at ang pamana ng mga ninuno. www.ralphescamillan.com

Gino Gonzales may mga set ng disenyo ng mga kasuotan para sa higit 100 produksyon ng teatro sa Maynila, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Japan at New York. Nakagawa pa rin sya ng mga disenyo para sa pelikulang pantelebisyon at tanghalan sa Museo.

Si Gonzales ay dating estudyante at nagsanay sa Philippine National Artist na si Salvador Bernal ang isa sa nagpasigla ng kanyang loob na hangaring mabuti ang pag-aaral sa Set at Costume Design . Nakatapos si Gino ng Master of Fine Arts Program sa Theater Design sa Unibersidad ng New York sa tulong ng Fullbright Scholarship at ng Asian Cultural Council Grant.

Noong 2015, kasamang naging Akda ng isang aklat na pinamagatang Fashionable Filipinas: A History of the Philippine National Dress 1860 -1960 kasama si Mak Lewis Higgins. Isa rin siyang lektyurer sa Fine Arts Program ng Unibersidad ng Ateneo de Manila at Unibersidad ng Pilipinas. Siya ay kasalakuyanng makasining na direktor ng TERNOCON (Terno- making Convention and Competition) na ang layunin ay magkaroon ng isang paligsahan sa tamang paggawa at paggamit ng pambansang kasuotan ng Pilipinas.

Carlo Reporen Eliserio dalubhasang manghahabi, tagapagsanay at maestro sa  Pagtitina ng Natural. Sa limang taong karanasan, naging adbokasiya niya ang Natural na Pagtitina para sa pagpapanatili ng pagkonsumo at produksyon sa paghahabi.

Nagmula siya sa angkan ng tagapaggawa ng mga hibla ng piña at eksperto sa mga Paghahabi sa Muninsipalidad ng Balete sa Lalawigan ng Aklan sa Pilipinas. Nagsasagawa siya ng pagsasanay sa Natural na Pagtitina at programa sa masusing pag-aaral sa Philippine Textile and Research Institute sa pamamahala ng Sangay ng Sining at Teknolohiya. Matagal na siya sa gawaing pagtitina at sa paggawa ng telang katutubo sa lalawigan ng Aklan, Lunsod ng Ilo-Ilo, Guimaras, at Lungsod ng Cebu. Kasalukuyan siyang nagpapasanay at nagtataguyod ng maraming paraan sa Natural na Pagtitina para sa mga negosyante, sa mga lokal na tagapaggawa, katutubong manghahabi at sa pamayanan ng Katutubo. Si Eliserio ay isang aktibong Tagapangasiwa na sumusuporta  sa Aklan  Piña Fiber Producers Association at miyembro ng Samahan ng mga mag-aaral ng Civil Engineering.