Latest news with #MaraCortez
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mural in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant honours victims of Lapu-Lapu Day tragedy
On a hot, sunny August weekend, artist Mara Cortez's design comes to life, her arm making fluid motions against a brick building as she paints a bold new mural in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. Balancing cool blues with bright, warm oranges and yellows, she creates the image of a boat filled with people, representing those who died at Vancouver's Lapu-Lapu Day festival in April. The boat itself is inspired by the manunggul jar, a pre-colonial burial jar from the Philippines. "We take care of our dead after they've passed, and we continue to do that," Cortez said. Eleven people were killed and many others injured on April 26 when the driver of a black SUV slammed into a crowd as the festival was winding down just after 8 p.m. The driver, 30-year-old Kai-Ji Adam Lo, has since been charged with 11 counts of second-degree murder. Since then, the local Filipino community has come together to heal in myriad ways — as have communities connected to the event across the globe. For Cortez, making art helps her to process grief. "Creating this piece actually helped me move through some of that, and heal," she said. The piece, titled Pagalala at Pagasa (Remembrance and Hope), was painted as part of Vancouver's Astro Arts Festival. She approached Filipino B.C., the organization that hosted Lapu-Lapu Day, to see if they'd sponsor the piece — and the group responded with an enthusiastic yes. The festival was named for an Indigenous resistance fighter in the Philippines who fought against Spanish colonization in the 16th century, and celebrates Filipino heritage and culture in Vancouver. "As the festival organizers, we thought it was important for us that we play a role in how the community heals," executive director Kristina Corpin-Moser said. "As the memory sort of fades from the public discourse, I think it's really important to honour the victims and those affected by this tragedy, to commemorate and memorialize them in a way that reminds people that these lives mattered. These were brothers and sisters, friends, daughters."
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Mural in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant honours victims of Lapu-Lapu Day tragedy
On a hot, sunny August weekend, artist Mara Cortez's design comes to life, her arm making fluid motions against a brick building as she paints a bold new mural in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. Balancing cool blues with bright, warm oranges and yellows, she creates the image of a boat filled with people, representing those who died at Vancouver's Lapu-Lapu Day festival in April. The boat itself is inspired by the manunggul jar, a pre-colonial burial jar from the Philippines. "We take care of our dead after they've passed, and we continue to do that," Cortez said. Eleven people were killed and many others injured on April 26 when the driver of a black SUV slammed into a crowd as the festival was winding down just after 8 p.m. The driver, 30-year-old Kai-Ji Adam Lo, has since been charged with 11 counts of second-degree murder. Since then, the local Filipino community has come together to heal in myriad ways — as have communities connected to the event across the globe. For Cortez, making art helps her to process grief. "Creating this piece actually helped me move through some of that, and heal," she said. The piece, titled Pagalala at Pagasa (Remembrance and Hope), was painted as part of Vancouver's Astro Arts Festival. She approached Filipino B.C., the organization that hosted Lapu-Lapu Day, to see if they'd sponsor the piece — and the group responded with an enthusiastic yes. The festival was named for an Indigenous resistance fighter in the Philippines who fought against Spanish colonization in the 16th century, and celebrates Filipino heritage and culture in Vancouver. "As the festival organizers, we thought it was important for us that we play a role in how the community heals," executive director Kristina Corpin-Moser said.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Artist paints mural to honour victims of Lapu Lapu Day vehicle attack
Mara Cortez, a Filipina-Canadian, worked with Filipino BC on the project, which is part of the Astro Arts Festival. A woman taking part in a Vancouver mural festival has created artwork to honour the victims of the vehicle attack that took place at the Lapu Lapu Day Festival in April. Mara Cortez, a Filipina-Canadian, worked with Filipino BC on the project, which is part of the Astro Arts Festival. The three-day event saw dozens of volunteer artists take over the alley between the 100 blocks of West 4th and West 5th avenues. 'There was a major void created by the loss of the Vancouver Mural Festival earlier this year, and other festivals,' said festival organizer Drew Young. 'So, everyone pulled together to make sure that murals and urban artwork continues its super amazing legacy in the city.' Artists filled almost every available space in the alley with a variety of colourful murals. For Cortez, who attended the Lapu Lapu Day Festival, the project is personal. 'What I wanted to bring to the community, is just to bring them some hope and to show them that even though the physical bodies are gone, that they're still with us today,' she said. 'There's a lot of moving through grief but I really want to highlight healing and joy and hope.' According to Cortez, the mural depicts a folklore character from the Philippines called Mayari, who is a goddess of the moon and the underworld. The mural also contains a boat filled with people who represent the 11 lives lost at the Lapu Lapu Day tragedy.
