University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student Mariah Moneda explored the role food plays in building community in her MFA qualifier show, “The Distance to Kababayan.”
Moneda’s photography gave viewers a glimpse into how food connects her to Filipino culture and community despite being far away from home.
The title of the show stems from Kababayan, the name of a Filipino bakery up the street from her grandparents’ home. When Moneda moved from Arizona to Wisconsin to continue her studies, “the distance to Kababayan” became a unit of measurement for Moneda and her family.
“With my work, I explore coping with the feeling of displacement and demands of any unfamiliar place,” Moneda said in her artist statement. “I forge and observe the yield of change through the domestic kitchen landscape and reflect on what stays through fragmented memories, our senses and how we can source from our current landscape in order to root and grow.”
Moneda explored her own experiences as a first-generation Filipino-American through a banana leaf motif reflected across her work. While banana trees are native to Southeast Asia and thrive in tropical or non-tropical warm environments — like Arizona and California — these trees are planted in Wisconsin during warm summer months despite being unable to survive long months of darkness and snow without proper care.
“I attach myself to the temporary life cycle of this tropical plant existing in the north without the proper care to survive. Like the banana tree, I would not make it without the proper nurturing,” Moneda said. “I documented the decay of the banana tree, using the motif of the curling leaves as a way of letting go.”
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Moneda’s work also explored the cultural significance of food and meal sharing. Through cooking and sharing her culture with others, Moneda said she built a community in Wisconsin while also maintaining important cultural traditions.
“Kamayan for Filipinos in America has transformed into a means for connection, celebration and nourishment that is best shared with a group of people,” Moneda said.
At her show, Moneda invited her close friends to partake in a meal together. This performance piece, sharing the same name as the show itself, reflected how sharing a meal together can build community.
“Memory becomes a catalyst for developing my own community,” Moneda said. “While sitting down over a meal, through the sharing of past histories and cultural identifiers, I distinguish the connection sustainable for kinship.”
After Moneda and her friends were served and started their performance piece, attendees were invited to partake in a buffet of traditional Filipino foods. Gallery goers also found community through Moneda’s show as they sat and conversed with each other over a meal.
To Moneda, her show highlighted the importance of maintaining important traditions no matter where you are in the world and proved community can be found anywhere through culture and food.
“The Distance to Kababayan” ran from Feb. 25 to March 3 in Gallery 7 at Mosse Humanities. Check out more of Moneda’s work here.
Anna Kleiber is the state news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as the arts editor. Anna has written in-depth on elections, legislative maps and campus news. She has interned with WisPolitics and Madison Magazine. Follow her on Twitter at @annakleiber03.
