Encircling Movements: Filipina Visual Artists and Kasibulan, 1970-2000

Abstract

This paper explores “movements” and their resonances with the works of Filipina visual artists Brenda Fajardo, Anna Fer, Julie Lluch, and Imelda Cajipe Endaya, cofounders of the feminist art collective Kasibulan. Referencing the alimpuyo, the title of an exhibit by the collective as well as an evocation of a whirling pattern, Kasibulan’s activities in their initial stages are annotated in this study, which offers a critique of women’s subjection and emphasizes collective actions to support and empower women. This paper also contextualizes the artists’ works via Kasibulan and situates these within women’s movements, socio-political upheavals, and the shifting discourse in contemporary art. It exemplifies how artists themselves expand the parameters of art through their work in advocacy, discourse and pedagogy, outreach, and collectivity.