Author: christina

  • Michael Bacol and Siete Pesos

    Michael Bacol and Siete Pesos

    The talented Michael Bacol in his studio, Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao. It was interesting to visit Michael’s studio and see the neighborhood kids practically invite themselves in to play with his art supplies. His paintings are populated with children (and doorways), and after visiting his workspace, it felt like seeing…

  • Workshopping the Ivatan Story with Basco Elementary Kids

    Workshopping the Ivatan Story with Basco Elementary Kids

    I had the opportunity to workshop the Ivatan story with ten 3rd graders at Basco Elementary School. With the help of Awee Abellardo (of Yaru Artists Collective), and Basco’s Vice-Mayor Ann Viola, we got the kids drawing some Ivatan words to start, then read them the story and held a…

  • Process: A Batanes Word Cloud

    Process: A Batanes Word Cloud

    At the beginning of the Ivatan story process, Alyssa Sarmiento visited Batanes and spent several days interviewing kids, teachers, artists, elders, and others in the community. She created this word cloud based on that, as one of the tools for discussing story themes. In practical terms, Elders is the biggest…

  • An Ivatan Folktale: “Duch’narbaan” / “Where Someone Fell”

    From Itbayat Folktales, collected by Professor Yukihiro Yamada and introduced by Celerina Mirabueno Navarro – – – – – – – – – – – –  A long time ago, during the time when my grandfather Aplakati was still a little boy, there was an old man who lived in…

  • Awee Abelardo and the Yaru nu Artes Ivatan Collective

    Awee Abelardo and the Yaru nu Artes Ivatan Collective

    Awee Abelardo, outside the Yaru nu Artes Ivatan, a collective of local Ivatan artists.

  • What’s a Sari-Sari Store?

    What’s a Sari-Sari Store?

    If you’ve been to the Philippines, you’ve surely run across a sari-sari store at some point. They are what we call bodegas in New York, cornershops in England, mama shops in Singapore. The word “sari-sari” is Tagalog for “variety / diversity.”Sari-sari stores are flexible, common, convenient, and located everywhere. They’re…