In his first solo exhibition, Il Mio Filippino: For Those Who Care To See, Dela Cruz continues his multi-year research on the Philippine’s diaspora in Italy. Dela Cruz focuses on domestic workers, seeking to understand the states of exhaustion and practices of care and rest that are associated with their lives.

The Il Mio Filippino (My Filipino) exhibition’s title refers to the widespread practice of associating the Filipino community with domestic labour, a prejudice that the artist experienced first-hand upon his arrival in Italy, with little room left to imagine Filipinas and Filipinos outside of this particular line of work, prompting Dela Cruz’s long-standing engagement with the subject.

Liryc Dela Cruz is a Rome-based artist and filmmaker originally from Mindanao, Philippines. Dela Cruz’s exploration of his origins, his biography, and social psychology grounds a multifaceted practice that includes film as well as performance, and that centers community gatherings and collective co-creation as tools of artistic research. His work expands thematically into the arenas of care, indigenous and decolonial practices, the transpacific trade of enslaved people, and notions of hospitality in pre- and post-colonial Philippines.

MOTHERLAND ▷ is GRIOT’s tv section featuring exclusive short documentaries with the artists, cultural producers, and creatives who inspire us the most. From Africa and the African diaspora. From Italy. From the world.

MOTHERLAND ▷ LIRYC DELA CRUZ
Created and directed by | Eric Otieno Sumba e Johanne Affricot
Video and editing | Andrea Pizzalis

IL MIO FILIPPINO: FOR THOSE WHO CARE TO SEE
Curated by | Johanne Affricot and Eric Otieno Sumba
Associate Curator | Roberto Scalmana
Assistant Curator | Lea Ramasawamy
Production + Communication Manager | Darya Shojay Kaveh
Graphic Designer | Kinga Raciti

REFRACTIONS
Concept | Celine Angbeletchy aka EHUA
Artistic Direction | Johanne Affricot
Production + Communication Manager | Darya Shojay Kaveh
Storyteller | S. Himasha Weerappulige
Graphic Desinger | Kinga Raciti

PARTNERS & SPONSORS
Promoted by | Assesorato alla Cultura di Roma Capitale e Azienda Speciale Palaexpo
Co-produced and organised by | SPAZIO GRIOT e Azienda Speciale Palaexpo
Main Sponsor | GUCCI
Supported by | British Council
In collaboration with | American Academy in Rome, Polo del ‘900, EXP

Find out more about ‘Refractions‘. Visit SPAZIO GRIOT.