Time to take care of Iris!

This campaign is for someone who helps so many, and rarely asks for help herself.

You got here possibly because of a number of things: 1) you know Iris and have benefitted from the extra-mile work she's done with you; 2) you understand that the hustle is never enough to give you the resources you need to take a break!

Iris Ferrer*** has offered good memories and relationships in the nine years of her non-stop hard work in the largely independent scene in the Philippines. If you know and love her, you probably benefitted from her being who is. Iris has held space to artists and other cultural workers as someone we can rely on in keeping our motivations true. She helped us think through the ways we create work, which is often under pressure with the drive to survive in the complex grind of living in cities like Manila. Alongside that, she has given a lot of us an opportunity to take fulfilling breaks with the entertaining quirks of having her as a friend. Iris’s hard work has inspired many of us who have been working independently. If you don’t already know and love Iris, you do now.

Now it’s time for her to take a generative break from the loop of work and survival. We’ve been pushing her to make her practice grow. And finally, after ten years, she’s got in a curatorial programme in the prestigious and rigorous De Appel in Amsterdam!!!

Like many of us, Iris does not have savings beyond her capacity to live through the everyday grind, and will be paying up to €8,000 in tuition fees (this excludes her living expenses!). Iris is bound for De Appel in September 2019. This burden can be taken off of her so she can focus not on her hustle, but on preparing her mind (and a big move).

Thank you for looking out for her!

***Iris Ferrer (1988) is a freelance cultural practitioner from Manila, Philippines. She has worked with various local and international platforms and individuals, both independent and institutional, across the contemporary visual arts field.

Her current major project management work includes “POSTER/ITY: 50 years of art and culture at the CCP”; “100 years of Cesar Legaspi”, a year-long multi-site centennial celebration of National Artist Cesar Legaspi; and “Mutable Truths” for Ateneo Art Gallery's 10-year anniversary exhibition with La Trobe University in Australia. She was the managing curator of VIVA ExCon Capiz 2018, the country's longest running artist-led biennale, and part of the organizing team for the Southeast Asian Residencies Meeting 2018, an international conference held at Roxas City, Capiz.