Mahal

Marikit Santiago

Opening 04.07.18 6-8pm
Artist Talks 23.07.18 6-7pm

Mahal is the Tagalog word that translates to ‘love’ and without altering the pronunciation or spelling, also means ‘expensive’. Only the context of its use differentiates the meaning. This exhibition titled Mahal, explores this exchange of simultaneous meaning of two disparate terms. This reflects the foundations of my practice, which explores a personal investigation of cultural plurality at the conjunction of Filipina ethnicity and Australian nationality. The term mahal is used to demonstrate my personal experiences of the exchange between inherited and adopted cultures, from developing and developed worlds. The work articulates the subsequent sensations of simultaneous acceptance, rejection and displacement.