The textile-based works in Soft Power are declarations: potent expressions of care, rebuke, resistance, and resilience. These soft manifestations of cultural heritage – the natural, tangible, and intangible- amplify personal narrative and social criticism through process and materiality.
Soft Power Artist Roquin-Jon Quichocho Siongco was born in Yigu, Guåha (Guam). Roquin draws from their family heritage and brutal Spanish colonialism history that the CHamoru people have endured for generations. Roquin draws from the resilience and resistance of their family heritage, creating weavings that pay homage to cultural customs that have prevailed through the violence of colonial erasure.
“But despite the ongoing violence, the people that call Guåhan home resist being ‘the tip of the spear’ for occupiers that see their lands, waters, and lives as pawns in games of war. While there are differences of opinions of what safety looks like, our lives and livelihoods are not disposable.” —Roquin-Jon Quichocho Siongco