FESTPAC Teach-In




The Festival of Pacific Arts and Cultures takes place in a different island in the Pacific every four years. This is considered to be the most important event in the Pacific in terms of culture and regional solidarity. It is a chance for each island to showcase their own culture and artistic expression, while meeting with others across the Pacific. 

 Recently there has been some negativity in Guam around FESTPAC 2020 and the idea of the Government of Guam funding 100 delegates to travel there. There is a significant amount of misinformation floating around, which is unfortunate, since it threatens to tar this important event. 

 To learn more about the value of FESTPAC and its role in Guam’s cultural renaissance and movement for decolonization, Independent Guåhan is holding a Teach-In on the topic on Thursday, January 16th at 6 pm at UOG HSS 106.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chamorro Public Service Post #15: Pues Adios, Esta Ki

A lot of people end up visiting this blog because they are searching around the internet for lyrics to Chamorro songs. Over the years I’ve pasted a couple here and there, but haven’t really kept up with it as much as I should. I complain all the time about there not being enough internet presence for the Chamorro language and for Chamorro thoughts and so I feel bad when I inadvertently contribute to that absence. På’go, gaige yu’ gi i gima’ iyo-ku grandfather. Desde i ma’pos’ña na mes, kumakatre gui’. Kana’ hineart attack gui’, ya sumaga’ gui’ gi i espitåt para tres meses. Mana’huyong gi i ma’pos na mes, ya sumåsaga’ gui’ gi i gima’, lao ti ha hulat tumohgue sin ayuda. Kada na puengge måtto yu’ gi i gima’-ña para i tetno-hu pumulan gui’. Gi este na tiempo, tåya’ internet, pues siña hu usa este para bai hu fanhasso. Manhasso yu’ put i lina’la’-hu pat i guinife-hu. Buente i chinathinasso-ku siha lokkue’. Tonight, I was trying to figure out what would be the best song to share the lyrics
Read more

Tuleti

Image
I was racking my brain recently to determine what was the first ever Chamorro song that was featured in a motion picture. Noon Sunday was the first every motion picture to be filmed primarily on Guam, prior to that some minor filming had been done on Guam for World War II and Godzilla films but nothing substantial. Noon Sunday was not set in Guam, but it was the first film to feature extensively the island of Guam. Guam was the locale for a fictional Pacific island that was being taken over by a menacing Asian power. Almost all the speaking roles went to people from off-island (from the US or the Philippines), and Chamorros ended up playing most of the "extra" roles. As a result the film didn't feature any Chamorro music. You do find documentaries and television programs, all locally produced that feature Chamorro songs of at least Chamorros singing songs. Guam's History Through Songs, made by the late Carmen Santos is a perfect example of this. For those of you u
Read more

Guam: The Movie

Image
During the pandemic lockdown on Guam, I was feeling at various points, like so many, stressed and anxious about the world and what was happening and what might happen. I was fortunate to still have a job during the lockdown, and because of technology like zoom and social media, I could still keep up my community work, by teaching classes in the Chamoru language and also history. I also was able to keep up with Fanachu! the podcast for Independent Guåhan. Because of so many people sheltering at home, our audience grew exponentially. One thing that I found myself doing more, like most people with a certain level of privilege and comfort, was watching more things online, on laptops and on my phones. Movie theaters were closed, but Netflix and Youtube were always open, so long as I had data on my phone and wifi in the home. As most people were locked down, sheltering in place, only encouraged to go out and explore for essential tasks or errands, things in general started to shift to becomi
Read more