Cian Dayrit

Yuta Nagi Panaad (Promised Land)

Cian Dayrit’s Yuta Nagi Panaad (Promised Land) addresses the impacts of the globalized economy and its powerful ideology on the spaces of everyday life. This tapestry work is a map that aims to visualize the expanding borders of mineral extraction, agri-business plantations, and their effects on the communities and the ecology of Mindanao, Philippines. Mindanao has a history of colonialism, exploitation, and displacement of its people. Today, foreign multinationals receive protection from local paramilitary organizations and Mindanao has been under martial law since 2017, which means that locals have no avenue to voice concerns and protests. The format of a fabric map – a coded language– was used historically on nomadic murals brought from one colonized state to another by warrior-kings. The work also addresses feudalism and landlessness by pointing to imperialist interests and bureaucratic capitalist landlords.