“Kultural Amnesia” is a book art project. This installation along with my body of work form the recently concluded OASES exhibition in Brisbane. My studio research led me to re-view Filipino identity in diaspora; the local/regional in Mindanao with the Southeast Asian region; and revisit/witness the continuing history of the Philippines and Mindanao.

Exploring the notions of identity made me look at various perspectives on being a Filipino. What is the relevance (saysay) of these independence and post-Republic narratives coming from a colonial past? What are the effects on the nation afterwards and into the 21st century? How do we look at ourselves these days? Can we still work together moving forward as a nation?

Part of re-imagining the nation is to re-read text on the Mindanao region. The book project focuses us to re ect on narratives that are forgotten and erased; the silence on the traumatic episodes of the Republic in the region; and the revisions and fabrications done by Filipinos that wield power over marginalised indigenous peoples. This has an effect on the culture of peace; acknowledging ancestral lands; and the protracted wars on ideology, secession, and extremism. Who benefits from these tensions, cracks, and fissures in Mindanao's tri-people society?

Furthermore, this is also an exploration on concept the fold (Deleuze, 1993; 2006), where the notion of identity is in flux, unravelling, vulnerable, clashing, tearing, and situated in the seams. This book project is depicted as sewn handmade paper with gum tree bark as a metaphor for the site of creation; and the play of local words and texture embosses on bound and torn book sections.