The Smithsonian Institute's Traveling Exhibit on the 100-Years of Filipino-American Experience opens in the Historic Filipinotown on Aug. 2, 2008.

"Like others that crossed wide oceans reached America’s shores, Filipinos overcame adversities and have built vibrant communities with deep roots now centuries old in American soil they toiled to make fertile. Singgalot (TIES THAT BIND) honors those early Filipino pioneers and the generations that came after them “(Singgalot Exhibit, Smithsonian, 2006).

Editor's Note: Singgalot is an Ilocano term for a rope made of indigenous materials that bind things or objects.

Singgalot will open at Remy's Art Gallery, 2126 West Temple Street near Alvarado, on August 2, 2008, from 11 am to 4 pm, free to the public.  An opening reception and dedication ceremony, featuring Dr. Franklin Odo of the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific Programs, will be held on August 2, in the evening, to honor three community heroes: Uncle Roy Morales, Lola Remedios Geaga and Auntie Ester Soriano-Hewitt.  The event will be emceed by Janelle So of "Kababayan, LA" talk show at KSCI-18 TV, with musical performances by Nonoy and Jenny Alsaybar, a master violinist and skilled flutist. 

A pre-exhibit reception for local donors is planned on August 1, with acclaimed jazz artists Charmaine Clamour and Mon David and a pre-exhibit viewing for press media on July 31.  The exhibit will be on display from August 2 to October 26, 2008.  

Singgalot is more than a walk in memory lane.  It is an exhibit that illustrates the vibrancy of the Filipino imagination and their generational grit to survive, to transcend the dark days of being burned alive in the sugar cane fields as they sought better working conditions for all sugar planters in 1900s, or of being confronted by a " No Filipinos Allowed " sign in a Stockton, California, hotel in the 1930s, or the "racialized" (sic) display of Filipinos at the 1904 World's Fair Expo in St. Louis, Missouri, where they were viewed and treated as "animals."  Through all these, Filipinos continued their journey to evolve their humanity, displaying their best selves, as they become part of America, a country they love.

Such is what is on display, the true stories of Filipinos in America, as captured by thousands of photographs and scores of stories obtained by a two-year long research done by Dr. Dean Alegado, his labor of love for the community, and the community's engaged responses nationally, eager to share their stories, from Big Island (in Hawaii) to Alaska to Chicago to Virginia Beach and now to California.  It is a story of love, of faith in humanity and service to others. But it is also a story of resistance, of struggle to achieve man's potential to be good to one another. 

The exhibit consists of 30-panels. Its curators are the University of Hawaii's Dr. Dean Alegado, the Smithsonian Institution's Dr. Franklin Odo, State of Hawaii Curator Tom Klobe and Curatorial Design Artist Marissa Gacula.  The host committee in Los Angeles composed of volunteers, amongst them: psychologist, professor, author, bookshop owner, and artist are proud to present this exhibit to the public and its community.   Local host/sponsors to this exhibit include Joselyn Geaga Rosenthal, Carol Ojeda Kimbrough, Prosy and Enrique Delacruz, Linda Nietes and Robert Little,  John S. Mina, Joseph Mazares, Carina Forsythe, Jonathan Edgar Yap, Councilmember Eric Garcetti, Asian Journal, RCBC, and adviser to the group, Consul General Mary Jo Bernardo Aragon.  National sponsors to this Smithsonian exhibit include ABS-CBN, Farmers and Wells Fargo. # # #

For more details, please contact:

Information Section
Philippine Consulate General
3600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Email: info_pcgenla@yahoo.com
Visit us at www.philippineconsulatela.org

Press Contact,
John S. Mina
818.974.9844
jsmina@hotmail.com