Rydel Cerezo will give a special presentation on the closing day of the exhibition Home Sweet Home. The artist will present new research from a recent trip to the Philippines, providing rich historical context for the works on view. Mapping the intersecting histories of his family, the city of Baguio, and the Congregation for the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM), as well as queer interventions into these histories, Cerezo will also offer an exciting first look at his most recent photographic works.

After the talk, the event will transition into a reading salon. Guests are welcome to peruse a range of research materials that have informed Cerezo’s understanding of how traditional practices and colonial projects – from religious missions to photography itself – have shaped his experience as a young, queer Filipinx person; and by extension, the imagery that permeates Home Sweet Home. These sources include:

City Of Pines: The Origins of Baguio as a Colonial Hill Station and Regional Capital by Robert R Red

Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society by William Henry Scott

Dean Worcester’s Fantasy Islands: Photography, Film, and the Colonial Philippines by Mark Rice

Carrying On The Mission: 100 Years of CICM in the Philippines provided by Mary Hurst Seminary

Light of the North: The Centenary of Saint Louis University

Banner Image: Rydel Cerezo, Music Room, Mary Hurst, 2022.