About The Project
Filipinos are among the most mobile people in the world with ten percent of the Philippine population living and working overseas. The mobilities and experience of Filipinos are important in understanding the ways that labors from the Global South are valued or expropriated during extraordinary times such as global disasters. “OFWs amid COVID-19,” led by Filipino anthropologist Dr. Dada Docot, is a research project that investigates the repercussions of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Members of the research team include OFW teachers Ma. Aleli Sharon Dy. Fajardo and Marian C. Brina, and graduate anthropologist, Jehu Emmanuel Laniog. Multimodal in scope, the project has two main components. First, the team hosts a series of workshops led by inspiring Filipino artists to encourage the use of creative forms of expression among migrants for their reflection and healing. Second, the project gathers 50 responses from OFWs about their experience during the pandemic. The team will conduct in-depth qualitative interviews with the survey respondents. The interlaced narratives from the workshops, survey, and qualitative interviews will open social justice conversations on intensified migrant precarity during pandemic times.This online multimodal research investigates the repercussions of COVID–19 by examining circumstances experienced by Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) amid the unfolding global pandemic. The project will host a series of workshops to encourage the use of creative forms of expression among migrants. The collected narratives will be used to create an online multimodal archive that documents the experiences of Filipino migrants during the pandemic. The project aims to deliver data that would be relevant to policy and social justice conversations about regulating, managing, and supporting im/migrants.
Schedule of Workshops
Workshop on Painting with Patrick Cruz
October 25 (Sunday), 9AM Manila
October 24 (Saturday), 6PM Los AngelesWorkshop on Painting: Painting–paintingSpeaker: Patrick CruzDescription: In this workshop, Filipino–Canadian artist Patrick Cruz talks on how painting serves as a record and document. How painting preserves and interpret events, people, places, and even psychological states. The workshop will explore the unique potential of painting by considering various methods in reframing and resisting definitions.When: October 25 (Sunday), 9AM Manila/October 24 (Saturday), 6PM Los Angeles
Workshop on Creative Inspiration by with Kristian Sendon Cordero.
December 19 (Saturday), 9AM Manila
December 18 (Sunday), 5PM Los Angeles
Workshop on Poetry by Karla Lenina Comanda
January 9 (Saturday), 9AM Manila
January 8 (Friday), 5PM Los Angeles
Workshop on Photography with Raffy Lerma
January 23 (Saturday), 9AM Manila
January 22 (Friday), 5PM Los Angeles