Alma Quinto in Hong Kong

Resident Artist Alma Quinto Conquered Statue Square

Visual Artist Alma Quinto is currently in a 3-month Artist-in-Residence programme at V54 in Happy Valley as part of CHAT or Centre for Heritage Arts and Textile project.

She came to Hong Kong unfamiliar of the place and life of migrant workers here. She said she needed time to explore and she did.

She said her first few days was a blur but after few connections with the Filipino Community, the project blossomed. “Day Off Mo?” This phrase came about after she encountered so many Filipinos in Hong Kong asking her if it is her day off.

Alma, found the statue of sir Thomas Jackson a very a symbolic image not only to Hong Kong as a financial center but also for Filipinos who made this place popular to meet with their relatives, friends specially for newcomers in Hong Kong.

On Nov. 18, Alma collaborated with different groups. In the morning, there was a workshop where participants used textile in expressing their activities on Sundays. The idea was to compile all the artworks and create a textile book.

While in the afternoon, two migrants collaborated for a more symbolic but silent assertion of women migrants for their role in the progress of Hong Kong. Cecil Eduarte created a doll that represent Grabriela Silang since Cecil is from Abra. Her soft statue raising her hand symbolizes her in making a stand for the rights of fellow migrants. On the other hand, Cristina Cayat (the writer) who is from Benguet used her indigenous fabrics to dress up the soft statue as a representation of her tribe in a cosmopolitan city of Hong Kong.

These two soft statues were place in front of the statue of Sir Thomas Jackson or “blackman.” This installation is very symbolic for Alma, it reflects the life of migrant workers in Hong Kong.

On Nov. 25, more soft statues were placed in front of blackman, these statues represent migrants and their activities during Sundays. Among the collaborators’ were Joan Pabona and Leeh Ann Hidalgo for photography, Revmarrz Saludez Balaoro for Transgender rights, Elpie Leba for Upcycling, Victoria Munar in a contemporary Filipiniana outfit, Gemma Calajate using katsa for her gown and Algileen Villaflor representing her style in a contemporary Filipiniana like Munar. .

All of these artworks will be exhibited on Dec. 2 at The Mills in Tuen Wan, including a presentation of Alma’s research and collaboration works with Hong Kong locals and migrant Filipino workers.