Vancouver, B.C.
A collaboration project by Filipinx queer multi-disciplinary PulitiQ with fellow Filipino artists and community members to launch on August 13, 2021 at the VINES Arts Festival 2021.
Press Release:
Unceded Territories – On August 13, 6pm, PulitiQ (Arts_Sounds_Kritikal_Filipinx_Queer) will be part of the VINES Art Festival 2021’s “OUR HOMES OUR STORIES” that will be held at Crab Park (101 East Waterfront Rd, Vancouver, BC).
“PulitiQ is grateful to our fellow artists who answered the call to this timely campaign on mental health and police brutality,” says Lee Bustos of PulitiQ. “We have participating artists locally and internationally- from the Philippines.”
Filipino artists such as Mildred Grace German, Jaleen Chrissy Nocon, Apple Lim Rockchick, Sullecile.Shan, and MIRAGER graciously responded to the call to Stop the Killings! and submitted their artworks in the form of poetry, illustration, articles, and abstract paintings.
Manila-based Apple Lim Rockchick is also one of the writers who submitted a poem, entitled ‘The Pain’ and an artwork of digital artist Sullecile.Shan from Tacloban, Leyte will also grace the back cover of the zine. From Metro Vancouver, artists Mildred Grace German, Jaleen Chrissy Nocon and MIRAGER also are participants to this zine edition and campaign. MIRAGER is an artists-inspired collaboration born in Vancouver and Richmond.
“What drew me to be an advocate of mental health and wellness is that i want to build a connection with random people around me who might be experiencing different struggles within their mental health and somehow extend that friendly hand,” Richmond-based artist Jaleen Chrissy Nocon expressed in an interview when asked on what motivated her to be part of mental health and wellness advocacy and initiatives such as the STOP THE KILLINGS! Postcard Art & Zine Campaign to address mental health and police brutality.
Art postcards of 4×6 inches of 10 designs will be printed and distributed as part of STOP THE KILLINGS! art campaign. A printout in zine-style publication will also be produced from this art project, with articles and musings pertaining to the Filipino experiences of mental health and police brutality.
STOP THE KILLINGS! postcards and zines will be available by-donation and “no-one turned away”. The proceeds will be allocated by PulitiQ to creating and producing more zines and artworks in the near future on themes such as gentrification, heartaches, Anti-Asian hate crimes, and immigrant struggles, and to connect with fellow artists, including emerging and the established.
Started in 2018, by two Filipinx queer, trans, nonbinary multidisciplinary peer-based artists Lee Bustos and Mildred German, PulitiQ wishes to connect, work, and share talents with like-minded Filipinx and LGBTQ artists on thematic projects that can involve necessary discussions and actions through arts, culture, and community.
Based on the unceded homelands of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations of the Coast Salish Territory, PulitiQ is a Filipinx LGBTQ group of artists that promotes Arts, Sounds, and Critical Thinking on LGBTQ topics, BIPOC struggles, and issues connected to the Filipino community and the Philippine diaspora. PulitiQ’s curation of STOP THE KILLINGS! Postcard Art & Zine Campaign to address mental health and police brutality is part of these goals.
PulitiQ’s multidisciplinary artist Mildred Grace German believes that “Art is a very important tool in addressing issues affecting our communities.” German who was also born and raised in the Philippines states that, “Being an artist does not have to cater only and just gear wheeled for elitism, and commercial purposes. Art and Literature with its power can highly reflect history, social reality, and possibilities.”
PulitiQ gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the 7th Annual VINES Art Festival which gives the opportunity for STOP THE KILLINGS! Postcard Art & Zine Campaign.
Some past work and participations of PulitiQ include the Art Studios, Pinoy Pride Vancouver’s LiberacIon Canada’s First LGBTQ Filipinx Pride Arts Celebration, the Vancouver Pride Parade 2019, Unibrow Arts Festival, Filipinx of Bancouber Zines, Pighati Filipinx for Mental Health, Vancouver’s Coop Radio, Spartacus Bookstores’ movie nights, many rallies and community events close to heart.
With the STOP THE KILLINGS! Postcard Art & Zine Campaign, PulitiQ wishes to:
– Use this art opportunity as a venue and platform to resolve issues affecting the Filipino’s and other marginalised communities’ stories of mental health wellness, police brutality, and anti-stigma hope and struggles.
– Bring awareness on the impacts of COVID-19, inequity, and unsafe public places on our mental health and overall health.
-Highlight the mental health struggles and lived-experiences of recovery, and/or psychiatric violence and police abuse.
-Tackle the impacts of the stigma on mental health and addiction on marginalised communities.
-Advance the rights and welfare of mental health consumers and survivors. For more information, please contact PulitiQ by email
contactpulitiq@gmail.com
Related articles:
Queer Filipinx PulitiQ on Mental Health and Police Brutality Issues
June 22, 2021 https://philippinecanadiannews.com/canada/queer-filipinx-pulitiq-on-mental- health-and-police-brutality-issues/
MILK SWEATER: Filipino Anime Digital Art and Literature
June 12, 2021 https://philippinecanadiannews.com/canada/milk-sweater-filipino-anime-digi tal-art-and-literature/
Mentally distressed man ‘executed’ by police, advocates say
January 11, 2021 https://philippinecanadiannews.com/canada/mentally-distressed-man-execut ed-by-police-advocates-say/
Pinoys write their stories
September 24, 2019 https://philippinecanadiannews.com/canada/pinoys-write-their-stories/