This CD-ROM contains the followings of the above captioned exhibition at Galleria Duemila, from 8 to 31 March 2008,

1. Artist resumes
2. Exhibition press release
3. Paintings by Ann Wizer
4. Photographic works by Romina A. Diaz



“It is social art: art with a conscience. Emotions, not just colors, paint a truly human picture of the reality of poverty.”  - Romina A. Diaz

“In doing so, we aim to illustrate that they entitled to the same things as everybody else: decent shelter, basic education, proper healthcare, the right to choose.” - Ann Wizer

Two women. Two artists. One is established, while the other is just starting out. Both have lived in Pasay, and both are global nomads.

Photographer Romina A. Diaz, who is half-Filipino and half-Italian, is able to step into the world of Loring Street as one of its main residents, while socially oriented artist Ann Wizer, a half-Norwegian/half-Lebanese American, participates in it from the periphery.

But their passion is one, the social consciousness is the same. Together, they journey to the end of Loring Street, where Romina and her family lives and Galleria Duemila is located, and where a large number of informal settlers has been living across from them for decades.

The project focuses on the young girls (ages 10-15) who reside in this area. Society often ignores girls like them: girls living in squalor, denied decent shelter, basic education, and proper healthcare, forced to become full-time mothers to their younger siblings, trying to survive in the huddled mass of shanties they call home.

During the course of a 10-week intensive photography workshop, through the lens of Romina’s camera and the cameras that have been given to the girls, we will peek into their lives and try to understand them. The girls of Loring Street are also making ‘dollhouses’ out of balikbayan boxes: these will become representations of their lives, their homes, and their dreams.

Together with Romina, Ann is producing Finding Sita public art. By re-contextualizing the girl’s works and pho¬tos within the locus of the female archetype of Sita (the heroine in the classic Hindu epic poem The Ramayana), they aim to make statements about the speciousness of mainstream advertising, compared to the harsh, hand-to-mouth existence of the women in Manila’s urban poor communities. These will be installed as postcards, billboards and stickers in massively populated areas in Metro Manila, particularly in Serendra and Fort Bonifa¬cio.

Furthermore, the public will be invited to participate in the project through the Living on Loring Online Journal (http://livingonloring.wordpress.com). Here, the progress of the girls who are participating in Diaz’ Living on Loring workshop are being continually documented by the artists, together with writers Anabel Bosch and Ginny Mata. They will feature the stories and the photos and dollhouses of the girls, as well as discuss the processes involved in completing the project as a whole.

Everything is a collaboration: between Ann and Romina, between the girls and their photographic subjects, between their reality and their dreams. As the project evolves, the girls continue to learn how to see their lives objectively through the camera lens. In doing so, they gain greater confidence in themselves and in their abilities, and even begin to hope for a better future for themselves. And the public - those who are brave enough to look upon this work with honest, uncompromising eyes - are irrevocably affected by and changed by the experience.

This exhibit was born during a discussion for a larger project: TRADE ROUTES: CONVERGING CUL¬TURES – SOUTHEAST ASIA AND ASIA AMERICA conceived by Angel Velasco Shaw. This is a multi-year series of four projects involving inter-regional, inter-country, and international cross cultural collaborations and exchanges between women. ”Living on Loring/Finding Sita” is the kick-off venue of its pilot project entitled Woman As (Mythical) Hero, which was inspired by the classic Hindu epic poem, The Ramayana.

The project is designed to provide diverse opportunities for women to break through barriers and allow them to share their creative practices, thought processes, social struggle and cultural concerns. The participants consist of media artists working in video, film, new media and media installation; performance artists; visual artists working in painting, photography, sculpture and mixed media; academic scholars and curators and grassroots community workers.

Working under the guidance of TRADE ROUTES project director Angel Velasco Shaw, this project is supported by the Arts Network Asia, Asian Cultural Council, and New York University. It is also made possible through the generous support of Chromograph, Inc., Digi-Ads Inc., Galleria Duemila, Kameraworld, LBC Hari ng Padala, Luneta Advertising, Inc and Signmedia.


Other Participating Artist: Wild Cats Girls