2026 SPE Annual Conference: Catalyst for Exchange
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print this pageCatalysts for Community: Kapwa and the Banana Tree
Mariah Moneda
Thursday, March 19 - 2:00PM to 2:30PM
Macon
The Filipino worldview is a culture of deep interconnection and shared identity, a philosophy of being that has roots in the indigeneity of the Philippines, pre-colonization, and explores the interconnected nature of humans and the land we occupy, often seen through ethics of care. Kapwa has no direct translation to English according to Virgilio Enriquez, the pioneer of Filipino Psychology, due to the foundation of the Filipino language having no denotation of "other". Despite this translation barrier, Mariah Moneda's research stems from her interest in the way Kapwa manifests itself without words, particularly through the food we consume and how we come by it.
Moneda pulls from the blurry line between cultural connection and references feelings of place and placelessness to the Philippines, her birthplace in the South West, and to her current home in Madison, WI, while ruminating on what lessons her own family legacy has shared with her through their own migration to the United States. Filtering these familial narratives through her First Generation Filipino-American lens, looking at her own experience in diaspora, she aims to create immersive and participatory installations for the audience to interact with, building off of memories of family dinners and traditional celebratory meals like Kamayan, a feast hosted on a bed of banana leaves, to serve as the foundation for community and gathering.
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Mariah Moneda
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