Introduction

Why are most of the WMH events in Western Visayas, not Manila?

Says TRADE ROUTES Project Director Angel Velasco Shaw:

With the exception of a one-night forum in Manila, the majority of WMH events will take place in Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental. I made the deliberate decision to decentralize from Metro Manila, to focus instead on regional cities with growing and thriving arts communities.

Decentralization, an act of shifting power bases, is an integral part of the TRADE ROUTES series’ intentions. On other practical and symbolic levels, this choice is also based on the kinds of unique exchanges and dialogues that can occur, in this process of questioning ownership and production of culture. Thus, this leads to the creation of alternative methods of exchange and routes of cultural trade.

Photo of Dumaguete Boulevard by Myrza Sison. May 2004.