London-based non-profit organisation, Voice ESEA, takes over Oxo Tower Gallery this September, inviting visitors to step into Filipino British history through seven themes of generational storytelling. The free exhibition is held from 3rd to 6th September and celebrates how generations of Filipinos have built lives, families and communities across Britain.
Despite more than 200,000 Filipinos living in Britain today, Filipino experiences remain largely absent from public archives, museums and cultural institutions. SALO SALO: Come Together is the ECHO exhibition this year, unveiling Filipino British culture which spans over 200 years of history, exploring identity through seven themes, from Liverpool’s “Little Manila” in the 1800s to the Filipino workers in the UK today. Through interviews, photography, film, soundscape, illustration, archival material, and textiles, it celebrates the large population of Filipinos, including the UK healthcare and domestic worker sectors and explores the vast diversity and nuances within this community. This exhibition acts as an invitation for people to step into a shared space of stories and experiences, sparking conversations around belonging, migration and British identity.
The exhibition forms part of Voice ESEA’s ECHO (ESEA Collective: History, Over here) series, which explores overlooked British histories through participatory arts, oral history and public engagement. Following previous exhibitions examining underrepresented East and Southeast Asian archives such as Chinese and Vietnamese histories, SALO SALO is the organisation’s most ambitious exhibition to date.
Alongside the exhibition, Oxo Gallery will come to life with a week-long programme of workshops, talks, performances, and film screenings celebrating Filipino language, textiles, food heritage, digital archiving, and contemporary culture. Selected events require separate tickets, while admission to the gallery remains free. We welcome visitors to donate what they can.
Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
To see the full schedule, click here.
