U of T - Marissa Largo & the Magkaisa Centre

Maleta Stories

Marissa Largo - Toronto, Canada
Magkaisa Centre - Toronto, Canada

Installation, Visual Art

With the Centre for International Experience as its backdrop, a projected stop-motion animation of a woman kneeling before a closed suitcase, or maleta, is seen. Slowly, the maleta begins to unzip itself by a force still unknown. What emerges, wrapped in Filipino newspapers, is the embodiment of the histories and narratives of people who have come to this land. Facilitated by the Magkaisa Centre, participants are invited to share their "maleta stories" of how they came to be in Canada on baggage tags, which then become apart of the web-like installation affixed to the British colonial architecture of the Cumberland House, constructing a collective family tree of migration.  A gallery of community-based artworks created by members of the Magkaisa Centre resides inside.

 

Suitable for all ages