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Spotlight
“Inspire ChangePukawin Ang Pagbabago”
By Eliseo Art Silva, Artist Eliseo Art Silva Studios
The title is written in Filipino script (Baybayin) which says: Pukawin Ang Pagbabago (in English, Inspire Change), and is layered over five iconic Filipino American heroines and heroes who are on the vanguard as agents of change: (Pictured on next page: L-R, top-bottom) Carlos Bulosan, Flora Arca Mata, Dawn Mabalon, Larry Itliong, and Philip Vera Cruz. Baybayin is a window to the world of our ancestors and narrows the gap between ours and the past when our country, the Philippines, reached a Golden Age during precolonial times.
Underneath the five portraits is an agricultural landscape where most of our pioneer Manongs and Manangs spent their lives working with the most inhumane working conditions. At the center of the landscape is a farm worker with a short-handed hoe, which was eventually considered illegal, thanks to the collective triumph of the Farmworker’s Movement launched by over 2,000 Filipino Americans, from 10 California farms led by Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz.
On both sides of the Filipino worker is a brown clenched fist juxtaposed with a Pintado Tattoo motif of flowers which symbolizes healing and valor. Rising with the Philippines (PH) Sun of the PH Flag are the “Callado” designs from the traditional attire of men and women called Barong Tagalog (men) and Maria Clara (women), both of which surfaces the 2nd Golden Age of the Philippines, when Filipinos waged Asia’s 1st National Revolution and established Asia’s first constitutional democratic republic.
The artwork also restores the Human Face of the PH Sun of the 1898 flag, reclaiming the ascendancy of the 1st Republic of the Philippines which manifested a human face in our national banner to proclaim to the world, the Filipino face of the Creator or Supreme Being (our Filipino identity) launching the Filipinization movement of the Philippines.
Finally, the text: “All Roads Lead to Stockton” celebrates the fact that Stockton was the main hub of Filipino Americans and their “home away from home,” known as Little Manila, represented in the painting with an image of the signage of three historic buildings from Stockton’s Filipino neighborhood
Eliseo Art Silva was born in Manila in 1972 and is a contemporary multimedia artist. He infuses his Filipino heritage into his work to help communities connect and foster compassionate interaction. With his art, he brings to life historically marginalized voices and amplifies the rich history of the Philippines.
Linda Claramo, President
