PHILIPPINES: Manila’s slum communities are home to millions of poverty-stricken people. The slum residents who experience the most brutal circumstances are the garbage-picking and charcoal-making communities, whose homes and livelihoods are Manila’s dumpsites.

In Kaff-eine’s Phoenix (2015) project, the communities of Baseco and Happyland (from a local word ‘hapilan’ for dumpsite) talked about the need for improved housing and shelter. In these wastelands, most residents live in makeshift homes built from scavenged, piecemeal materials and located in areas vulnerable to flooding, typhoons, storm surges and fires. Old, threadbare ex-advertising tarpaulins are used for walls, roofs, or tents everywhere, but they are rarely in any condition to adequately protect the families who live under them.

In 2016, our international team of visual artists and filmmakers will create an ambitious art installation and housing project: thirty large art tarpaulins or 'art tarps' will be installed with residents of Manila’s dumpsite slums. These thirty art tarps could reinforce existing residences, or be standalone shelters. 

The art tarps will spotlight community personalities, provide resources that can be used as immediate shelter for residents, and form a unique and useful art installation.




WHAT WILL WE DO?

LOCAL PERSONALITIES’ PORTRAITS: Kaff-eine will paint portraits of 10 local personalities. These artworks will be printed onto industrial tarpaulins, a practical form of mobile, weatherproof housing used by the communities. Each image will be printed in 3 sizes, ranging from 4m x 4m up to 6m x 8m.

ART TARPS AS MUCH-NEEDED SHELTER: Thirty art tarps will be installed in partnership with the communities, and can shelter up to 120 residents. The art tarps will be gifted to the communities. With your support, we'd like this to happen before the rainy season in June begins.

CAPTURED ON FILM: The process will be professionally photographed and filmed by Geloy Concepcion, Geric Cruz and Marti Salva.

More about the project and the communities online on our website here.

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

Our Happyland team has donated thousand of hours and resources, and we know we can't do the next stage of printing and installing the art tarps on our own. We'd love your help to make this art as shelter happen.

In addition to supporting the Happyland project, you also stand to gain many generously donated rewards. By pledging now, you've got a chance to secure artwork from your favourite artists, or great rewards of experiences and gear that will see you going from trampolining with goats (perhaps followed up by a well-earned massage session), to street art tours and cinema nights following a great eat out at a Melbourne institution. Make sure you scroll all the way down - the list of rewards on offer is long! There are many one-off rewards, so pledge early!  



DONATE ART AS SHELTER: You can nominate an art tarp you'd like to follow, and your donation through the  Australian Cultural Fund (ACF) will be tax deductible! You'll have exclusive access to behind-the-scenes. You can donate directly through the ACF. 

Thanks to Creative Partnerships Australia's MATCH grant, every dollar we raise through the ACF donations up to $8,000 will be matched, dollar for dollar. That means if we raise at least $8,000, MATCH will give us $8,000 - that's double the impact for your dollar! Head over to the ACF to donate now.

Please note: Only donations through the ACF are eligible for tax-deductible receipts. POZIBLE rewards ARE NOT eligible for tax-deductible receipts, as you're getting a great reward for your pledge on Pozible. 

Our project partners and supporters

Our Happyland team and wonderful friends and supporters have donated significant amounts of time and resources to the project, but we need your help to complete the next stage of the project.

Art tarp and documentary costs include the costs of creating, printing, materials and equipment, delivery and food for the residents during tarp installation. A travel stipend for the volunteer crew is also included (towards flights, accommodation and food).

All Pozible rewards on offer have been generously donated, however there are costs associated with the launch event (venue hire, setup etc).

We are currently raising funds to cover these expenses in a few ways: through this Pozible campaign;  tax-deductible donations of art tarps via the Australian Cultural Fund, and other opportunities like grants. We'd like to raise at least $30,000 across Pozible, the Australian Cultural Fund and other sources.  If we meet our initial Pozible and ACF targets, we'll be able to start printing and installation! Any dollars raised over our minimum will go towards covering documentary and post-production costs, the travel stipend for our volunteers, and the final Happyland exhibition in 2016-7.  We'd also love to hear from you if you might be able to help out with in-kind support (accommodation, transport in Manila, simple building materials etc) to help us lower costs further.

Happyland is an ambitious project: we're working across two countries and with communities that are particularly vulnerable to weather and living in challenging, poverty-stricken circumstances. 

Weather: We plan to install the art tarps prior to the rainy season in Manila, as this will mean residents have the art tarps for shelter during a particularly tough time, and that the ground upon which we work is dry and relatively solid. 

There are many unknowns: Our team is an international team, with Australian and Filipino crew members who have ongoing relationships with community members, and the majority of our crew have experience previously working with the communities from Baseco and Happyland for other visual arts projects. We'll work with local residents, who will guide us in identifying those who most need and would like an art tarp.  Safety of everyone involved in the installation process is a priority, and we've worked hard to identify ways we can all work safely and have fun. 

If we don't make our fundraising target: We'll need to amend our timelines until we're able to cover the minimum costs of the project. However, we'd love to be able to complete this next stage in May-June before the rainy season begins, so please get your family and friends on board, and secure your Pozible rewards!