A Home grown Community Art Collaborative with
Women’s Voices, Women Speak,
Pek-Pek Liberation Front, &
3rd Path for Reproductive Justice
Come check this out at...
Arts at Mark's Garage
1159 Nu`uanu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96817-5121
Members and co-inspirers: Ellen-Rae Cachola, Grace Caligtan, Malaya Caligtan-Tran, Melisa Casumbal, Kim Compac, Pete Doktor, Nicki Garces, Kyle Kajihiro, Kotoba Kanazawa, Koa Luke, Christine Lipat, Gigi Miranda, Darlene Rodrigues, Terri Keko'olani, Eri Oura, Faith Pascual, Malaya Valenzuela-Lipman, Sarah Smorol, Leotele Togafau, Jen Yu, and Monique Yuen
Peace Force
Our Peace Force mannequin rocks bigger picture vision glasses. S/he is fully armed with re-purposed weapons: a mike that speaks truth to power, a dialogue device , a human aid bag and used to gather la’au and traditional medicines, and lastly, several writing instruments, since the pen is mightier than the sword.
Tapis and Topless
This outfit depicts and honors the successful resistance led by Kalinga and Bontoc tribal women in the Cordilleras in the 1980’s to defend their land, life and resources from drowning because of the World Bank-funded Chico River dams. Because of the sheer determination and courage of the dam-affected peoples to stop the project by all means, the World Bank decided to withdraw its funding for the dam project. In fact, it was the experience of the World Bank on the Chico Dam that it formulated its operational guidelines of projects affecting indigenous peoples.
“Entayo agpabuya, paypayew kalkalsada, salidummay salidummay ay ay. Minas ken kabakiran, teatro pay ti babaknang, salidummay salidummay ay ay. Bannog, pudot ken bisin, tudo pudot ken lammin, salidummay salidummay ay ay. Uray kasta karigat na gana-ganasen tay latta, salidummay salidummay ay ay,” (Let us perform on the rice fields, streets, mines, forest and even in the theatres of the rich. Fatigue, hunger, rain, heat or cold. No matter how difficult, let us give our all).- excerpt from the Salidummay song entitled Kultura ti wayawaya [Culture of freedom].)
Daughters of Lien Apinam
The outfit pays tribute to the daughters of Lien Apinam, descedents who fight for accessible health care for their families. Lien Apinam was a female ancestor from Lukunor, Chuuk who stepped on the battlefield of two fighting groups. Her female presence on the battlefield stopped the battle because in the tradition and culture, hurting a woman brings bad omens to the nation.
Occupied Bride
In this outfit, our occupied bride wears chicken wire stretched into barbed wire to represent the ways in which her body and the earth she lives on has been bound along the military fence-line with toxins, contaminants and unexploded ordinances. Her boots bloom with flowers, signaling the flowering of young aloha 'aina warriors, willing to malama, defend, and bring back what has been poisoned.
Unko Spam
When Hawaii was occupied and colonized as the 50th state, it was lured into dependency and could no longer be a self-sustaining country. In World War II, spam was introduced to Hawai'i as an alternative to meat because the islands food imports were closed down during the war. A troupe of ex-G.I. women was recruited by Hormel Foods to promote Spam from coast to coast. The group was known as the Hormel Girls and associated the food with being patriotic. Today, it is estimated that the residents of the state of Hawaii and the territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) consume the most Spam per capita.
Miss Moana Nui
This dress represents Oceania outside of global first world nations’ divisions, military aggressions, and economic exploitations. Military symbols of brass buttons, looped epaulets, and the purple heart are here reconfigured to symbolize oceanic connections of friendship and good will unity and solidarity.
Military Straight Jacket: Commitment to the Nation?
Designed by an Army reservist, this piece touches on the phrase, "Commitment to the Nation" that was repeated over and over again during her ROTC enlistment. Her outfit questions the motivation under those words and behind those who choose military service. According to the
National Priorities Project, of the 70,026 military recruits in Fiscal Year 2010, 1,111 came from U.S. Possessions and Territories, including the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and foreign addresses, including military postal addresses. The promise of a green card and citizenship is what commonly attracts Asia Pacific migrants to join the military because to be a U.S. citizen means they can access health care, higher education, and a decent standard of living for their families. While cash and US citizenship are powerful enticements for joining, she wants viewers to recognize soldiers underneath the numbers of dead, and honor the complex human beings under the uniform as sisters and mothers, brothers and fathers, and as all our children.
Check The Numbers:
2,776: US and Coalition deaths in Afghanistan
14,733: Wounded in Afghanistan
4,798: US & Coalition deaths in Iraq
32,224: Wounded in Iraq
11,2726: civilian deaths in Iraq
1985: suicides in military since 2001
Other numbers to consider as well:
In 2010 Lockheed Martin paid its CEO Robert Stevens $21.89 million and spent $12.7 million lobbying politicians.
In 2010 Northrop Grumman paid its CEO Wes Bush $22.84 million and spent $15.7 million lobbying politicians.
In 2010 Boeing paid its CEO James McNerney $19.4 million and spent $17.98 million lobbying politicians.
Hula Rise Up
This outfit plays on the designer's childhood memory and the ways that hula has been commodifed and used for tourist consumption. She updates and adds to this memory with adorning the mannequin with a poem by Summer Nemeth, titled,
Na Wahine Koa, which speaks back to exploitation of this cultural practice and the 'aina.
Remembering Labor History and Resistance
Our remembering labor history outfits commemorates the proud labor organizing tradition in Hawai'i. The mannequin wears a palaka shirt, fused with a housekeeping outfit used in the hotel industry. Pinned to her uniform is a heart pierced with seven sewing needle symbolizing women garment workers in free trade zones. This outfit honors the organizing legacy of women plantation workers and their links to today’s struggle for fair wages and working conditions in the hotel and tourism industry. Her heart remembers her international sisters and their efforts to organize, even when in places where it is prohibited.
Ea reconstructed and For Realz Kine, Genuine Security Blanket
The need to re-purpose and reconstruct is reflected in the blanket. What is old can be made new. Liberated Cuts can reconstruct your shirt into new. Click
here for more info.
But this production does not end here! Check these affiliated events...
Sun, Nov 6 (
Alterna*APEC) UH Forum, Passionista Demo, Panel 5-7 pm
Thursday, Nov 10 Moana Nui afternoon panel on militarization & Passionista demo at 6:30 pm
