Kwento by Nica

The mission of my practice, Kwento by Nica, a Living Memoir, is self-preservation. The vision is to provide the reader-user-audience an example of a life lived in the age of digital feudalism where histories and identities are subjected to consumption and commodification. The work archives a working life of a girl estranged from her first home and family—a home and family system that began in the Republic of the Philippines Islands, a region contrived by centuries colonialism dominated by European empires and North American imperialism.

Raised in the confines of a colonial mindset, I was made to think a particular way about myself. The practice of a Living Memoir is an act of rebellion and reclamation of a narrative that is conveniently Othered by the golden western standard. Through digital preservation, I assert that I am beyond the first identity assigned to me which is to be “less than.” By combining traditional memoir narratives with digital media art, by becoming a Living Memoirist, I attempt to create and make known a narrative that is often controlled to be hidden and silent. By utilizing the freedom the world and the digital space provides, I am making a settlement, a home, and a family which I call and have titled: Kwento by Nica.

But it comes at a cost. I'm aware that I'm being watched by those who still believe I am colonized, less than, without a true home, and destined to be lonely. I hope that those who interact with my work will not only witness the process of living but also see the home I built so that they too can experience the beauty, freedom, and love found within it.

Written by:

~~ Nica 

090525