Pinoy Creative History QLD

Focusing on Filipino migrants in Queensland, I will explore how they have expressed identity and belonging through music and cultural spaces across their migration history. This project is conducted through and supported by the State Library of Queensland through the Queensland Memory Awards and Letty Katts Fellowship.

This project is envisioned as a community collaboration facilitated through my research endeavour. For this purpose and reason, I am looking for photos, clips (newspaper, magazine, books, etc), audio and video recordings, stories, and everything in between. More information can be found below and you can contribute by attaching them using the upload button.

Migration, musical practices and belonging among Filipino migrants in Queensland: festivals, music industry participation and everyday lives

Music, arts, and heritage are invaluable cultural resources for both newly-arrived and established migrants, aiding integration into new communities while sustaining connections to home countries and diaspora networks. This project uncovers these cultural resources and practices through historical materials, offering a deeper appreciation of migrants’ role in the cultural and creative fabric of multicultural Australia. Focusing on Filipino* migrants in Queensland, I will explore how they have expressed identity and belonging through music and cultural spaces across their migration history.

The project examines how Filipino migrants cultivate and promote a sense of belonging through festivals, performances, and community spaces, tracing the evolution of Filipino creative expression in Queensland. By consolidating existing materials from the State Library and gathering insights from Filipino migrant musicians and pioneers, this study seeks to document the enduring contributions of Filipino communities to Queensland’s cultural landscape.

*This refers to musicians and creatives who identify as "Filipino" in terms of heritage and ancestry, whether they were born and raised in the Philippines, born but grew up in Australia or elsewhere, or have a certain percentage of Filipino ancestry and other cultural identity/ies.

Music and Musicians

Music is transcultural as it moves from one cultural setting to another; it is also transnational as it crosses borders from one country to another. It travels beyond cultural affiliations and borders while promoting a feeling of belonging. Hence, music elicits nostalgia and collective memory about one’s home country and cultural practices. Filipino musicians have been travelling around the world either on a full-time or part-time basis; however, not much is known about their place in Queensland history as their creative and musical inputs are as important as their economic, social and cultural contributions to Australia.

Have you seen Filipino(-Australian) musicians playing covers on stage or their original recordings, or playing instruments to backup Australian singers? We can give the recognition and acknowledgment that they deserve by sharing visual stories and remembering their legacies through photos, clips (newspaper, magazine, books, etc), audio and video recordings, stories, and everything in between.

Drop your contributions here: https://forms.gle/C7uZy8ZT54jmhwjt5

Dance, Theatre, Visual Creative Arts

Arts and heritage are important cultural resources for newly-arrived migrants to both stay connected with home and connect to their new communities. Performance arts such as dance and theatre are potent ways to tell stories through movement and stories. Unveiling these stories and (re)discovering these through historical materials will generate new understanding and perspective about migrants’ role in the cultural and creative development in Australia in general.

Have you seen Filipino(-Australian) creatives performing dance and theatre on stage, or have exhibited their visual arts in galleries and spaces in Queensland? We can give the recognition and acknowledgment that they deserve by sharing visual stories and remembering their legacies through photos, clips (newspaper, magazine, books, etc), audio and video recordings, stories, and everything in between.

Drop your contributions here: https://forms.gle/iBBU4gbB5kmyCDkt7

Venues and Spaces

Because of the extensive presence of Filipinos and Filipino-Australians in Queensland, and Australia in general, it is a fact that these migrants have endeavoured creative and musical activities throughout the years. Spaces such as restaurants, cafes, backyards, open spaces, RSLs, galleries, and everything in between can attest to Filipinos' contributions to Queensland history.

We can give the recognition and acknowledgment that the venues deserve by sharing visual stories and remembering their legacies through photos, clips (newspaper, magazine, books, etc), audio and video recordings, stories, and everything in between.

Drop your contributions here: https://forms.gle/rqdkGWdS9kb8fi5F8

Festivals and Events

The most visible and sought-after translocal diasporic site among Filipino migrants is the Filipino fiesta or festival. The fiesta makes itself visible to the community and at the same time, the community identifies itself with it. Filipino fiestas generally showcase as many backgrounds and interests as possible through performances and cultural products.

Community events such as the Filipino fiestas are seen as sites of identity assertion and representations of cultural belonging among Filipino migrants in Australia. For musicians and creatives in general, these events are a way to express creativity, identity, and cultural values of solidarity through cultural and musical memory.

Have you seen Filipino(-Australian) festival and events throughout your stay in Queensland where musical, artistic and cultural performances have been presented? We can give the recognition and acknowledgment to these events and performers by sharing visual stories and remembering their legacies through photos, clips (newspaper, magazine, books, etc), audio and video recordings, stories, and everything in between.