Kimberley Acebo Arteche reclaims indigenous traditions in the Pilipinx diaspora | KALW
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Kimberley Acebo Arteche reclaims indigenous traditions in the Pilipinx diaspora

By & Bo Walsh & Tarek Fouda • May 30, 2019
  • Kimberly Acebo Arteche's "Kulambo Dreams," 2019. On view at the Luggage Store Gallery until May 31.
    Kimberly Acebo Arteche's "Kulambo Dreams," 2019. On view at the Luggage Store Gallery until May 31.
    Courtesy of Kimbery Acebo Arteche

Growing up in Maryland, cultural worker and interdisciplinary artist Kimberley Acebo Arteche didn’t see a lot of other Filipinos in the predominately white schools she attended. Traditional values were passed down from her family, but there weren’t a lot of other resources to help Kim learn more about her heritage.

"I had gone my whole life trying to figure out what being an artist and what being a Filipino American artist was like, and to come here, and to witness it and be part of it, and to help it move has been like a full realization of my whole life."

While studying art at San Francisco State, Kim explored the impact of colonialism on self-identity, and she found art as a way to reconnect herself to the indigenous Filipino traditions she and many other Filipino Americans have been separated from. Kim’s work is currently being featured in the new KulArts exhibition Post-Colonial Survival Kit.

You can catch Kim’s work this Friday at the closing reception of the Post-Colonial Survival Kit exhibition happening at the Luggage Store Gallery in San Francisco.

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Arts
Visual Art
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