What you need to know about ARPAK PH, an artist collective fighting for peasant farmers

There’s more to art than just aesthetics—it’s a tool, a weapon even, that brings attention to significant messages that need to be heard or seen.

Enter ARPAK (Artista ng Rebolusyong Pangkultura), a collective fighting to advance the calls of the farmers and peasants with works of revolutionary art.

This national democratic mass organization (NDMO) recently celebrated its third anniversary and in their commemoration, they wanted to “portray the peasant masses as the kind of people that fights back.”

In June 2022, 92 farmers and peasant rights advocates who were holding a land cultivation activity in Hacienda Tinang in Tarlac were arrested.

Thousands of activists and grassroots organizers were arrested and detained during the Duterte administration including Amanda Echanis, the daughter of a longtime peasant leader.

Additionally, farmers struggle with the rising price of goods due to inflation, especially given their measly salaries. Minimum wages in the Philippines goes for as high as P570 a day in Metro Manila while those in other regions have lower ones, like P341 a day in Bangsamoro.

Calling for the ‘bleeding edge’

With all these injustices against the peasant masses, why use art to advance their interests?

“As national democrats, we believe that culture has a very high place,” ARPAK Education and Research Committee member Jakob Magbanua told We The Pvblic.

While art and culture spaces in the Philippines have always highlighted the “avant-garde” and “bleeding edge,” this shouldn’t just stop with aesthetics, Magbanua added.

“We don’t want to just have avant-garde aesthetics, we want to have an avant-garde system of governance, a system of economics,” he said. “We want the bleeding edge in aesthetics precisely to serve the bleeding edge in politics and economics, which we see right now—those that are leading the fight are the masses themselves. What we want to do is join that bleeding edge with art… We want revolutionary art to serve the actual revolutionary end.”

Nica Loria, Arpak’s spokesperson, also said that the collective is more than just a space for art. “That’s the goal of Arpak anyway, to create spaces like this—not just a space where there’s culture and art but rather as a site of protest and amplifying the peasant cause.”

Continuing the fight

On May 6, ARPAK celebrated its third anniversary with a gig-exhibit, titled SIKLAB ng MAnggagawa sa Agrikultura, dedicated to agri-workers. In addition to featuring revolutionary art, local hardcore, rap, and instrumental acts took the stage including Limbs, Spore, Run Deliks + Hard Head Collective, gal.lows, Shockpoint, and Sandy Good.

The organization also holds events in Quezon City and Alabang, and they plan to create more chapters all over the metro.

You can join ARPAK by approaching one of their members during our events, finding ARPAK‘s flag during one of the protest actions on the streets, and messaging them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The post <b>What you need to know about ARPAK PH, an artist collective fighting for peasant farmers</b> appeared first on WE THE PVBLIC.

Source: we the pvblic