Tag: workshops

In 2024, the collective took a necessary pause. As migrants navigating the everyday demands of life in the UAE, members faced a range of challenges—including conflicting schedules, limited funding, personal responsibilities, and the realities of full-time day jobs. 

Every member of 63Kolektib is a working professional, and balancing artistic pursuits with the demands of work and life abroad is no small feat. This pause was not a sign of retreat, but a reflection of the collective’s humanity and the lived experiences that continue to inform its work.

Instead of mounting a full production, 63Kolektib focused its energy on capacity-building through Tipon workshops—a series of free sessions for individuals interested in theater. 

These workshops covered Production Management, Stage Management, and Directing + Script Analysis, and served as a space for skill exchange among members and the wider community. Bayt Al Mamzar was generous to lend us their space for free for these workshops. 

Tipon became a platform not just for learning, but for preparing the collective for upcoming projects such as Metro Diaries, building both knowledge and connection among artists eager to create and collaborate.

Tipon 2 explored the power of storytelling through the Museum of Migration and Memory—a collaborative research and community art initiative led by Robert Deguzman, Majd Alloush, Dennis Gupa, and +63Kolektib.

This session invited participants to reflect on their migrant journeys through a paper mâché object-making workshop and ethnographic interviews, highlighting the emotional and political weight of personal belongings carried across borders. By centering the lived experiences of migrants, Tipon 2 became a space for authentic narrative-making, collective reflection, and artistic expression rooted in the pursuit of transformative social justice.

Held on 26 February 2022 at Bayt AlMamzar, Dubai, Tipon 1 marked the inaugural gathering of Filipino artists and creatives in the UAE. Organized as part of +63Kolektib’s ongoing efforts to build community and create dialogue, this round-up was a space for exchange, reflection, and dreaming together.

The programme featured two key segments:

1. Filipino Artists in Conversation – a candid sharing among artists about their work, challenges, and experiences in the UAE.
2. Collaborative Futures: Migrants as Artists, Artists as Migrants – a conversation on the intersections of identity, migration, and creative practice.

More than just a meet-up, Tipon 1 was a seed for future collaborations. It brought together visual artists, performers, writers, musicians, and cultural workers—creating a network of shared purpose grounded in the Filipino migrant experience. 

Hosted in the welcoming space of Bayt AlMamzar, the event emphasized the power of gathering, of listening to one another’s stories, and of imagining what’s possible when artists support each other.