January 1, 2024 — Maglala is a Filipino word that means “weave” or “intertwine”.
An ongoing exhibit in Montreal features the term to convey the Filipino immigrant community experience in the city, hence Maglala: Weaving Our Webs of Home.
A piece on the City of Montreal’s website says the show “highlights and preserves family histories and diasporic experiences in Côte-des-Neiges, where Montreal's largest Filipino population has lived and built its community”.
“This exhibition documents and celebrates, through photographs and mappings, how we connect through memories of crossing oceans, saying goodbye to friends, families, generational homes, and forming new homes in places, such as a local grocery store that serves local cuisine, or during long Sundays spent in the parks.”
The exhibit is presented by Pulso Ng Bayan, a community project that seeks to create a “space of vulnerability and tenderness for community members, reflecting on the struggles, resilience, and global systemic challenges that immigrant populations persist in overcoming”.
“They seek to strengthen the bonds between generations and open up future prospects for the stories and the people who tell them.”
Pulso Ng Bayan is made up of Andi Vicente, Marianne Métivier, Deann Louise C. Nardo and Jacqueline Stol.
Maglala opened on December 7, 2023 and will run until January 28, 2024 at the Maison de la culture de Côte-des-Neiges (5290 Côte-des-Neiges Road). Admission is free.
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