On Tuesday evening, March 17, 2026, the Filipino Community of Seattle (FCS) Tanggapan Gallery welcomed guests into its first exhibition of the year with Sama-Sama: A Movement of Collective Joy—an immersive and deeply reflective celebration of Filipinx/a/o identity, community, and togetherness.
Featuring the works of Shayla Pascua Hufana (ConceptShell Art and Design Studio), Terrence Jeffrey Santos (Filipinotown Magazine) and Bennyroyce Royon (Bennyroyce Dance), the exhibition brings together painting, visual design, installation, and photography to explore what it means to belong to the Philippine diaspora. While each artist presents a distinct perspective, the exhibition reveals a powerful throughline: that individual stories, when placed in conversation with one another, form a collective narrative anchored in shared memory of movement, resilience, and joy.
Curated by Margery Cercado, a local artist and educator, the exhibition is guided by the idea of holistic balance—mind, body, and spirit. Initially, Cercado approached each artist’s work as representing one of these dimensions, but as the installation came together, something more layered emerged.
“At first, I wasn’t sure how their work would merge,” Cercado reflected during the reception. “But through the process of installing, talking, and sharing space, it became clear that everything was interconnected. Each artist embodies all aspects—mind, body, and spirit. Together, the exhibition feels whole.”
This sense of wholeness is immediately felt upon entering the gallery. Visitors are drawn into what the artists and curator came to call the “Spirit Tunnel”—a colorful thoughtfully arranged passageway leading into the heart of the community space. Inspired by celebratory and communal rituals, the tunnel evokes both movement and welcome.
Photographs by Santos guide viewers forward, while Hufana’s vibrant and symbolic works create layers of visual storytelling. Royon’s sculptural mylar cocoons frame the experience, enveloping visitors in a reflective and dynamic environment. The arrangement invites not just observation, but participation—encouraging guests to move, feel, and situate themselves within the narrative.
At the core of Sama-Sama is the exploration of diasporic identity—how it is carried, fragmented, remembered, and reimagined across time and space. Hufana’s work, filled with bold colors and culturally resonant imagery, evokes a sense of familiarity and shared memory. Her paintings speak to an inherited knowing—a visual language that resonates deeply with diasporic Filipinos.
In contrast, Santos’ photography and his work through Filipinotown Magazine serve as a living archive. His portraits document the people who sustain and shape the community, offering both tribute and testimony. His images capture not only individuals, but the collective body of care, labor, and joy that defines the Filipino/a/x presence in Seattle.
Royon’s installations, composed of silver and gold mylar cocoons, bring a physical and spiritual dimension to the exhibition. The works embody movement—tension and release, expansion and contraction—mirroring the lived experiences of migration and adaptation. The reflective surfaces invite viewers to see themselves within the work, reinforcing the idea that the exhibition is not separate from its audience, but in dialogue with it.
For Cercado, one of the most powerful realizations during the curatorial process was how the exhibition speaks to themes often disrupted by colonization—particularly queerness, ancestral connection, and relationships to life and death.
“There are parts of our identity that were forcibly removed or silenced,” she shared. “But standing in that space, I saw those connections being reclaimed. I saw queerness, ancestry, and community all in conversation again.”
This reclamation is evident in the symbolism embedded throughout the exhibition. In one of Hufana’s central pieces, a hybrid moth and monarch butterfly becomes a poignant metaphor. Cercado points out that for many Filipinos, moths are seen as ancestral visitors, while monarch butterflies signify transformation and migration. Together, they represent a bridge between worlds—past and present, homeland and diaspora.
Movement, in all its forms, is a central thread. It is not only the physical movement of migration, but also the emotional, spiritual, and temporal shifts that define diasporic life. Cercado reflected on how this movement challenges linear understandings of time.
“In many cultures, time isn’t a straight line—it’s a spiral,” she explained. “We are always moving, but not always forward in a conventional sense. Sometimes we’re revisiting, remembering, or reconnecting. As diasporic people, we exist in multiple places at once.”
This layered understanding of movement is perhaps most evident in the exhibition’s emphasis on togetherness. While each artist’s work stands on its own, the exhibition insists on collective experience as a source of strength.
“This show is a reminder that while we each carry our own stories, we are stronger when we move together,” Cercado said.
That spirit of collective engagement was especially visible during the opening reception. One standout moment involved an interactive mylar installation in the Filipino Community Center historic ballroom, where guests were invited to touch, shape, and leave their imprint on the material. The resulting piece—formed through many hands and bodies—became a living embodiment of the exhibition’s central theme.
“There’s something powerful about touch,” Cercado reflected as she walked through the gallery, gesturing toward the seniors’ pottery materials near the ballroom. Beyond her role as curator, Cercado also volunteers with the FCS senior pottery class every Tuesday, having supported and curated their exhibition last year. The exhibition will remain on view til the end of April before the gallery transitions into a Flores de Mayo-themed showcasing creativity in bloom featuring works from the FCS senior pottery class. The upcoming exhibit, Bulaklakan, will feature handcrafted pottery by seniors from the Filipino Community Center on Tuesday, May 12th, 2026 1:30-3:30pm.
“Materials like mylar or clay hold memory, just like we do. When people engaged with that piece, they left a part of themselves behind. It became a shared imprint.”
By the end of the evening, the gallery had transformed into more than just an exhibition space—it became a site of connection, reflection, and celebration. While Cercado hesitated to define the experience in a single word, one idea continued to surface: togetherness. Sama-Sama, after all, means “together”, and in this exhibition, togetherness is not just a theme—it is the medium, the message, and the lasting imprint.
