James Makin Gallery and Kaff-eine will open the Phoenix exhibition on 6 November 2015 from 6pm to 9pm at James Makin Gallery in Melbourne.
Julian Burnside AO QC will officially open the exhibit followed by the global premiere of the Phoenix documentary.
From the ash and charcoal of Manila’s most impoverished dumpsite slums rises a striking exhibition by Kaff-eine, with friends Geloy Concepcion and Geric Cruz, featuring collaborations between Kaff-eine and Manila’s garbage-pickers and charcoal-makers.
Kaff-eine combines her realist watercolour and charcoal portraits with the images and stories made on site by the creative, resilient garbage-pickers and charcoal-makers from Baseco Compound and the Aroma Happyland slum.
The collaborations were created with the charcoal made in these slums. The paintings are accompanied by beautiful photography from the area, and the global premiere of the special Phoenix documentary, which follows the intimate art-making process in the slums.
Phoenix photographers/filmmakers Geloy and Geric are travelling from Manila to Australia for the opening of the exhibition. Baseco Compound and Happyland are often described as dirty, dangerous, crime-ridden, violent and ‘godforsaken’, attracting little interest, empathy, or investment to make changes to the communities’ appalling circumstances.
Phoenix invites audiences to step inside these confronting environments and recognise the nuance, pride and strength of the exceptional communities living in Manila’s literal wastelands.
Proceeds from the sale of collaborative artworks will be donated to established non-government organisations that directly support the collaborating communities in Aroma and Baseco.
For more information, please visit: https://kaffeinestreetartist.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/invitation-to-phoenix-exhibition-6-15-november-2015/
