Likhaan celebrates Filipino art and literature in a three-day cultural extravaganza
By Hannah Caparino, November 15 2024—
In Bankers Hall 315, the Filipino collective Indioz Bravos and Salingpusa Magazine will host a Filipino arts and culture festival called Likhaan that will showcase and celebrate all kinds of Filipino art. A member of the collective and Brookfield Properties artist’s resident, Harvey Nichol, spoke to The Gauntlet about the festival, who’s involved and the overarching narrative of the three-day event. Nichol reviews the planning process and curating the artist lineup of the festival.
“When it came to doing one in Calgary we wanted to create something that’s not just directly about visual art, but it’s also about other cultural means of expression like literature, comic books, and all these other things that wouldn’t be considered fine arts,” said Nichol, “One of our goals is we wanted to collaborate with other artists throughout the country and also feature up and coming students from the university here in Calgary, and when we started thinking of Likhaan we saw this ongoing kind of movement across North America.”
In terms of who will be involved in the festival, local artists and speakers like Bianca Miranda and Mar Cortez will be making an appearance. Nichol comments on how choosing the artists can unify all the Filipino artists in Calgary, and that all projects can result in a singular mission to present Filipino culture in a variety of artistic means.
The primary difference regarding the Calgary Likhaan festival versus other iterations in Vancouver and Montreal is the ability to use the Bankers Hall 315 space for an elongated amount of time. Giving attendees the opportunity to explore all forms of literature, artwork, and Filipino culture that is being created by Filipino artists from around the country over the three day period.
“This [Calgary] is my homebase. This is where I do my practice, so what makes this one different is the inclusion of literature and all these academic stuff that we don’t usually have than in the ones we had in Vancouver and Montreal … It’s exciting to break that barrier between all of these regional differences.” said Nichol.
When discussing how the event will engage with the Calgary Filipino community, Nichol discusses how the structure of the event compliments the growing Filipino artistic movement. The art that will be presented will range from exploring Filipino diasporic feelings, various aspects of Philippine culture and stories. The wide array of stories and conversations that can be shared go beyond the Filipino experience and doesn’t pigeonhole the community into one specific image, all the while not being swallowed by the larger immigrant population in Calgary.
“When it comes to a lot of diaspora art, people come in and they see it and they think they’re talking about their lives as immigrants. But it’s more than that, and I think artists doesn’t need to make art about their immigrant stories for it to be considered Filipino art. The simple matter that they are Filipino makes it Filipino art,” said Nichol.
Nichol speaks on how the theme of the “Kahapon” (past), “Ngayon” (present) and “Bukas” (future) have fueled new partnerships, like collaborating with the Salingpusa Magazine and producing generational artwork like Nichol’s new comic book, Aklas.
“So we’re trying to relate back to what our ancestors did beforehand, and how we can do it in our day. Because once you know your roots, it’s much easier to find out what’s in between now and tomorrow. […] And yeah it kind of made sense to create a sort of narrative of what came before us, what is happening now, and then for the last day it’s all about futurism and what we can do tomorrow,” said Nichol.
Nichol hopes that there is an overarching feeling of acceptance of Filipino culture and experiences which is being expressed through art, acting as a love letter for the community. Alongside discovering how Filipino art can be highlighted in its own standalone setting, each section of the “past”, “present” and “future” will celebrate Filipino resilience and stories.
“I guess our hope is that people come into this door and there’s this sort of understanding that there’s something going on and we should appreciate it, because if we’re not the ones appreciating it how can we expect people of other races to appreciate our culture if we don’t give it the time and day?” said Nichol.
Likhaan will run from Nov. 14-16, and will include a number of panelists, art and more. For more tickets and event details, all information can be found in this link.