Featuring works by Gab Mejia (Philippines), Recipient of the 7th Objectifs Documentary Award, Open Category
Revered as healers, warriors, and teachers, the Baylans of the Talaandig-Manobo have long been guardians of the sacred forests of Mount Kaluntungan in the southern Philippine province of Bukidnon, threatened by an encroaching industrial pace since the Spanish and American colonial period. For the Baylans, the forest is a sacred site—a portal, a threshold. Nature and spirit abide in the Talaandig-Manobo narrative.
Gab Mejia pays homage to this verdant landscape and its people by directing our attention to the queer kinship of two central figures: a head spiritual leader Datu Arayan, and a Baylan initiate and youth leader Krystahl Guina. A new generation of Baylans, they are also members of the Kulahi Pangantucan Performing Arts Group—storytellers, performers, protectors of indigenous heritage. Mejia’s dreamlike portraits animate Datu and Krystal’s deep, unspoken spiritual connection with their land, home, and family amidst the quiet domesticity of their daily rhythms.
Venue: Chapel Gallery, Objectifs
When: 4 Apr - 18 May 2025, 12pm - 7pm
