A powerful all-Filipino performance titled Sa Ating Pag-tahan / In Our Stillness was presented at Africa Hall on April 19 as part of April Acts 2025: to carry new formations, a featured program of Sharjah Biennial 16. Blending dance, live visual projections, soundscapes, and poetry, the multidisciplinary performance explored the layered meanings of the Tagalog word “tahan”—to stay, to comfort, to hold, and to endure—while navigating questions of migration, identity, and community among diasporic Filipinos.
The piece was conceptualized by Anna Bernice delos Reyes and Augustine Paredes, co-founders of the Filipino art collective Sa Tahanan Co., which translates to “in my home.” Delos Reyes (b. 1997, Manila) is an independent curator, writer, and cultural researcher whose work spans Berlin, Dubai, and Manila. Her curatorial practice focuses on social research and contextual storytelling, particularly around themes of diaspora, migration, and post-colonial narratives. She has collaborated with institutions such as Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Art Jameel, and the Philippine Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Alongside Paredes, she created Sa Tahanan Co. in 2020 to amplify Filipino voices in global cultural spaces.
Joining them on stage were artists Memoryall (Martin Yambao and Yasha Estrada), Pauline Doctolero, Rei Co, Ana P. Santos, with technical direction by Thomias Radin. The performance was followed by a reflective talkback with SB16 co-curator Amal Khalaf. This event is one of several under Sharjah Biennial 16, which runs until June 15, 2025, and is themed “to carry”.
