Weaving Freedom: A Community Offering by Diwa Malaya
BE FREE FESTIVAL // Balay Kreative Studios // Weaving Freedom // June 8, 2024
https://balaykreative.org/product-page/kreative-growth-info-session-befree-c4p3y
“Weaving Freedom”
A Community Offering by Diwa Malaya
Be in a shared breathing space of (un)weaving…
In this workshop, we are going to learn about weaving, not just as an artistic expression, but also as a compass to our pursuit of freedom. Diwa will take us on a journey of (re)membering through questioning, shedding, healing and dreaming. As we learn stories of weaving in the Philippines, we will also weave together tropical fibers, fabric scraps, found objects and recycled materials (supplies provided). Our intention is to create a container where we can better understand our relationship with weaves so that we can consciously partake in revitalizing weaving in the motherland.
We are inviting our kapwa who feel called to connect with their Filipin* roots grounded in the ways of our ancestors, waves of our movements, and webs of social realities. Come with an open heartmind and let’s weave our freedom together!
*This workshop is an introduction to the Weaving Workshop Series (frame loom, backstrap loom, pedal loom and indigo dyeing)
Diwa Malaya is a transdisciplinary creative currently based in the ancestral land of the Ohlone people. Born, raised and educated in the Imperial Metro Manila, she thought she had a solid understanding of her identity until she migrated to California where her worldview was challenged. Making sense of having multiple places to call home, yet at the same time, still feeling disconnected, led her to reconnect with her ancestral roots. To weave herself together, she has been learning the Ilokan@ language, revisiting Philippine h*story and following weaving stories, which all inform her relationship with the land and understanding its peoples. She navigates being Filipin* in the diaspora by embodying cultural beliefs and practices she learned from the communities through exposure trip, cultural immersion and field work research. Her current work in progress are social realism mixed media art and a documentary film depicting themes of mental health and socio-economic justice.
It was beautiful to witness community – friends, siblings, mother & daughter, partners in life – come together for weaving and its deeply rooted connection to our identity.
Deep gratitude to:
Jamie Cardenas – for alchemizing our 1:1 conversations and calling a community gathering into existence… Kabs, the seeds you’ve been planting is growing!
Twinkle Ferraren – for inviting me for a weaving collab which now turned out into a series! Your free-spirited way of life is impacting people not just in the motherland but also in the diaspora!
Lauren Benetua – for being an inspiration ever since – the first EVER weaver I learned about!!! The Virgo energy that balances & supports my fire stellium…
Carol Ann Apilado – for being a reminder of core strength, unwavering focus and self-CARE. All your support, even from afar, keeps me grounded.
Joy Nguyen – for bringing Aria, our youngest weaver! And for checking in & staying hopeful for our weaving dreams.
Thank you Balay Kreative for opening the space for us! For Nicole‘s invitation to present at Be Free! For Kaithleen ‘s marketing correspondence! And for Iggy’s support in coordinating the event before, during & after!
Thank you to everyone who showed up – stopped by, listened in, wove with us, wish they can make it, wanting to bring the workshop to their local community, telling other people about their experience, keeping in touch! May we all keep this woven connectedness going as we move along the series… AND QUESTION, SHED, HEAL, DREAM TOGETHER!
I am in awe. Everything is still sinking in…
How can I not show up for weaving if weaving keeps showing up for me? Especially if our community is yearning for it.
Weaving freedom,
Diwa
🎶 Gold by Nikbo
📚 To remember that our motherland produces cotton as fine as gold, to commemorate the 1815 Sarrat Cotton Uprising, and to support the few farmers who are growing cotton again
⚪️ Cotton sent by Care from Auntie Fering of Sarrat
🟦 Indigo fabric scraps from Jamie
📸 @filmandfiber @laurens.laga
🍴 @filmandfiber @diwamalaya
@laurens.laga
