Strong And Beautiful

The story Strong And Beautiful is a Filipino creation myth about the origins of the Philippine islands and the first Filipinos. In the story, the first man was named Malakas (Strong) and the first woman was named Maganda (Beautiful). Together, the two beings emerged from a single bamboo. It can be said that the culture of the Filipino people embodies both strength and beauty in their resilience during times of hardship, and their immersion in a variety of art forms inspired by the natural beauty of their country.

Through the years, many Filipinos have endeavored to begin a new life in Canada. They have continued to share the richness of their cultural heritage within a unique multicultural country. They have carried with them valuable pieces that allow them to stay connected to their ancestors such as traditional clothing, jewelry made of gold and pearls, and items made of shell, handwoven palm leaves, rattan, and bamboo.

In 2018, the Canadian government proclaimed that the entire month of June as Filipino Heritage Month. It is with a spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving that the Filipino Canadian community presents an English translation of one of their most cherished folktales, and a collection of cultural treasures from the Philippines.

Culture Days
September 20-October 25, 2019
Filipino Canadian Association of Kamloops and District in partnership with Kamloops Museum & Archives, British Columbia, Canada

Our heartfelt thanks to all the amazing people who helped make our Culture Days event a success, and all the wonderful museum guests who celebrated Filipino heritage with us this weekend.

Thank you all for being part of such a momentous event. Most especially, we would like to acknowledge and give honour to the Secwepemc, the ancestral people upon whose traditional and unceded land Kamloops Museum and Archives is located. The Secwepemc maintain a spiritual and practical relationship to the land, water, air, plants, animals and all things needed for life on earth.

Indigenous Filipinos also maintain a close relationship to the earth. The story “Strong and Beautiful | Malakas at Maganda” is one of the most cherished stories about the origin of the Philippine islands and its people. The sky, sea, wind, animals, and plants all come to life in a magical creation story where chaos gives way to peace, freedom, and empowerment.

"Strong and Beautiful: Cultural treasures from the Philippines" is still on display at Kamloops Museum including a painting by Filipino Canadian artist Charlie Dondoyano Frenal.

Culture Days | Fête de la culture BC Culture Days | Fête de la culture Kamloops Museum & Archives Storytelling and Filipino Bamboo Dancing Filipino Canadian Association of Kamloops and District City of Kamloops - Parks, Recreation & Culture

Our Culture Days event will feature traditional Filipino clothing, including the Filipino butterfly sleeve "terno". Join us on Saturday, September 28, from 10 am - 12 pm for storytelling, crafts, and bamboo dancing at the Kamloops Museum.

The style and symbolism of the "terno" has evolved from the Spanish and American colonial period of the Philippines to the present. During the 1910s to the 1940s when the Philippines was under United States rule, wearing butterfly sleeves was a highly visible rejection of American interference, and allowed Filipino women to define modern womanhood in their own way.

Source: Laura R. Prieto (2014). Bibles, Baseball and Butterfly Sleeves: Filipina Women and American Protestant Missions, 1900–1930. In Hyaeweol Choi & Margaret Jolly (Eds.) Divine Domesticity: Christian paradoxes in Asia and the Pacific. ANU Press The Australian National University.

Filipino Canadian clothing line VINTA Gallery continues to redefine the "terno" in North America. Learn more about them on CBC Arts: http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1091469379938/

Culture Days | Fête de la culture BC Culture Days | Fête de la culture Kamloops Museum & Archives City of Kamloops - Parks, Recreation & Culture Filipino Canadian Association of Kamloops and District CBC Arts VINTA Gallery

Our storytelling peacock chair is a cultural treasure from the Philippines. Made of woven rattan, the throne-like peacock chair has been used by portrait photographers for its regal and tropical granduer since the 1920's.

It is a little known fact that the peacock chair was originally designed and manufactured by inmates in Bilibid, the largest prison in Manila.

Source: Emily A. Morris. (2012). The development and effects of the twentieth century wicker revival. The Smithsonian Associates and Corcoran College of Arts and Design.

Smithsonian Magazine Culture Days | Fête de la culture BC Culture Days | Fête de la culture Kamloops Museum & Archives City of Kamloops - Parks, Recreation & Culture Filipino Canadian Association of Kamloops and District