Becoming Filipino
Thesis
2023
Advisor: Jeannie Kim
Colonization has had a significant impact on Filipino identity, eliding any sentiment that there is pride to be found in a complex and multivalent society. Carried into the broader Filipino psyche, this precipitates a lack of identity and pride in the culture. Often leading to an automatic belief that anything western is superior to anything Filipino, which is exemplified through the balikbayan box. Originating from a campaign encouraging Filipinos to seek jobs outside of the country and send foreign products back home. Rooted within the culture, the box is a physical connection to the world that normalizes rejecting local while apotheosizing foreign cultures. Heightened by rapidly diminishing traditional knowledge and practice, the preservation of culture requires the creation of a cultural commons. Set in northern Philippines, this thesis becomes a ‘gateway’ that engages local and diasporic Filipinos by advocating for research, education, and the transmission of knowledge through traditional activities.