Our project seeks to provide a permanent recognition for the Filipino community in Vancouver through artistic place-making. The Filipino community in Vancouver, and in Canada generally, has a long history of activism against immigration pathways, such as the Live-In Caregiver Program, which have subjected Filipinos to socio-economic violence. The Live-In Caregiver Program for instance results in the de-skilling of largely college educated Filipina women. As caregivers, they are not able to work in other sectors, and thus forget their professional and educational knowledge acquired back in the Philippines. This keeps them in a cycle of chronic poverty. However, Filipino resistance of the past and present advocates for changes to such immigration pathways and laws. The Live-In Caregiver Program is now defunct as a result of such activism. Relatedly, Juana Tajada advocated for the end of a second medical screening for permanent residence (PR) applications after she was denied PR due to her medical exam, despite being promised PR as part of the Live-In Caregiver Program.

Our place-making strategy seeks to bring the activist history of the Filipino community in Vancouver and Canada to public parks. We hope to see Filipina activists depicted on picnic tables and benches in Vancouver’s Collingwood Park as a formal recognition of their tireless advocacy efforts. Further, Collingwood Park is frequented by Vancouver’s Filipino community, making the park an excellent location for such an important display.