On Sunday 3rd December the exhibition, Beyond Myself- Filipino migrant’s investments in Philippine futures launched at Goldsmiths, University of London. The launched involved talks, collaborative discussions and performances. Thank you to those who joined us and to our special guests who were:

His Excellency, Ambassador Antonio M Lagdameo who was accompanied by Second Secretary and Consul, Rommel Romato, Professor Patrick Flores (Vargas Museum, UP Diliman), Councillor Jimi Adefiranye and his consort Sandra, Professor David Oswell, Pro-Warden Research & Enterprise, Goldsmiths, Councillor Obajimi Adefiranye, Chair of Lewisham Council, Mr Rafael Maramag of Kanlungan Filipino Consortium and Ms Cielo Esperanza of Filipino Domestic Workers Association

Beyond Myself is an exhibition which stems from community-based art events and collaborative methodologies of exhibition making and research to raise and address questions about the welfare of Filipino migrants in London and Hong Kong and their contributions to national development in their home country.

Participating Artists and Artistic Organisations

• Nathalie Dagmang, London & Manila
• Members of the Migrant Domestic Workers Organisation in London
• Guhit Kulay, Hong Kong
• Migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong
• Voices of Women Media
• Carpelita B.Carag and Rowena E. Brioso, Hong Kong
• Jorge B Vargas Msuseum

This exhibition stems from the AHRC Funded project Curating Development: Filipino migrants’ investment in Philippine futures. The project is based on partnerships between academic institutions and third sector organisations in and across the UK, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The three academic partners are Goldsmiths, University of London, Department of Anthropology– Mark Johnson, Principal Investigator and Gabriela Nicolescu, Research Fellow, Keele University – Deirdre McKay, Co-Investigator and The University of Hong Kong- Maggy Lee, Co-Investigator.

Our non-academic partners are Susan Cueva and Rafael Joseph Maramag from Kanlungan, a London based charitable consortium consisting of six Filipino community organisations working for the welfare and interests of the Filipino community in Britain and Lenlen Mesina and Lucinda Pike, from Enrich, the leading Hong Kong charity promoting the economic empowerment of migrant domestic workers.

Marla Asis from the Scalabrini Migration Center in Manila is our final partner whose organisation acts as an important bridge between migrants, researchers, third sector organisations and policy makers in the Philippines in advocating for migrant rights and welfare.

Beyond Myself is open to the public and will be running until 31st January along the Kingsway Corridor in the Richard Hoggart Building. 

Photos and videos from the launch:

The Caribbean Film Club invites students, staff and the public to explore the richness of Caribbean cultures through a series of feature films and documentaries. Focusing on diverse contexts and themes, from erotic tourism in Haiti to Santeria religions in Cuba, the series offers insight into the creativity and complexity of the region.

All welcome! A £1 entrance fee is requested towards the Dominica Hurricane Maria Relief Fund

For more info contact: Dr Adom Philogene Heron (Social Anthropology)

Room: RHB 342, Goldsmiths 

Time: 6pm

Week 4 – Wednesday 25^th October

Life and Debt (2001) by Stephanie Black [Library 330.97292 LIF]

Documentary look at the effects of globalization on Jamaican industry and agriculture. It examines the economic and social situation in Jamaica, and specifically the impact thereon of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank’s structural adjustment policies. Its starting point is the essay A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid.

Week 5 – Wednesday 1st November

La Fuerza del Tambor [the power of the drum] (2006) by Alfredo Calvo Cano [Library 789.1 FUE]

A vibrant example of how the African spiritual and musical traditions have survived in Cuba, “The Power of the Drum” features live public religious ceremonies, interviews with practitioners of the African religions, and drumming demonstrations.

Week 6  – Wednesday 8^th November

The Lunatic (1991) by Lol Crème

The story of a village madman, Aloysious, who has the amazing ability to talk to anything, including trees, cows and cricket balls. Aloysious meets Inga, a German nymphomaniac, who uses her ‘pum pum power’ to capture his heart.

WEEK 7 – Wednesday 15^th November

Heading South (2005) Laurent Cantet [Library 791.43744 HEA]

Three white women – Ellen, a university professor from New England; Brenda, a housewife from Georgia; and Sue, a blue-collar Canadian – travel to a Haitian resort in search of erotic pleasure. Hoping to escape from dissatisfaction and loneliness, the women repeatedly hire handsome local men for casual sex. But, when Brenda begins to develop feelings for one of the men, Legba, the sudden appearance of honest emotion throws the trio into turmoil.

WEEK 9  – Wednesday 29^th November

Dancehall Queen (1997) by Rick Elgood and Don Letts [Library 791.43731 DAN]

Marcia, a Jamaican single mother and street vendor raising two daughters disguises herself for a dance contest, pits her enemies against each other and goes on to become queen of the dancehall.

WEEK 10 – Wednesday 6^th December

Rockers (1978) by Ted Bafaloukos [Library 791.437 ROC]

Horsemouth, a rastaman form Kingston, sets himself up in business selling records around Jamaica on his lion of Judah motorbike. But when gangsters steal his bike things start to turn nasty. As tensions build, Horsemouth and friends plot to end the gangsters’ reign of terror and restore justice to the people of Kingston.

Week 11 – Wednesday 13^th December

Pressure (1976) by Horace Ové [791.43731 PRE]

Focusing on a single family, Pressure examines the tensions that emerge between first and second generation West Indians in London. British-born youngest son, Tony, finds himself negotiating between the respectable Trinidadian world of his parents and his own explorations of a black political identity. 

We look forward to you joining us!

Click on poster to make full screen

Curating Development, the Department of Anthropology’s autumn term seminar series will be running from 4th October – 13th December, 3pm-5pm.

Development is a highly contested term and set of processes, but at some level presupposes the possibility of social change and the material enhancement of people’s welfare and wellbeing. We ask, how might artistic, visual and curatorial practices and events contribute to development and/or provide a fora and platform for critical social and political engagement and interventions with these processes?

This seminar series is sponsored by the AHRC and Research and Enterprise Committee at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Free entry all welcome!

Full speakers list:

4 October – RHB 143

Si se puede- new narratives of indebtedness through protest art

Maka Suarez, National Education

University, Ecuador

11 October – RHB 143

The art of post-development: seeing

from the South

Macarena Gomez-Barris, Global South Center, Pratt Institute, New York

18 October – RHB 143

Tropenmuseum in a time of post-development

Wayne Modesto, Tropenmuseum &

VU University Amsterdam

1 November – RHB 143

Photographic encounters: creative engagement with migration in Morocco

Sébastien Bachelet and Laura Jeffery,

University of Edinburgh

15 November – RHB 143

Sink or swim:  participatory videos directed by

domestic workers, refugees/asylum seekers, and ethnic minorities in Hong Kong

Vivian Wenli Lin, Voices of Women Media and Julie Ham, University of Hong Kong

22 November – RHB 304

Curating development:  Filipino migrants’ investments in Philippine futures

Mark Johnson, Goldsmiths, Deirdre McKay, Keele University and Gabriela Nicolescu, Goldsmiths

29 November – RHB 143

The developmental: aesthetic and ethic in Philippine curatorial work

Patrick Flores, Jorge B Vargas Museum,

University of the Philippines

6 December – RHB 143

Curating the Dharavi project, Mumbai

Ben Parry, Bath Spa University and

Vinod Shetty, Acorn Foundation, India

13 December – RHB 143

Excavating an archive: interrogations, tactics and strategies in the development of a long-term photographic project

Paul Halliday, Goldsmiths

For more information please visit the departments event page 

Welcome all new postgraduate students, thank you coming to your inductions and joining us in the Anthropology garden for a sunny picnic! Here are a few snaps!