FICS to Hold Wearable Futures Exhibition

To kick off the celebration of the 28th founding anniversary of the University Philippines Open University, with the theme University of the Future: Reimaginations, Reconfigurations, Realizations, a one-week mini-exhibition by FICS-run BUKAS Lab will be held from 02 March to 08 March 2023 at the Oblation Hall, UPOU Headquarters, Los Baños, Laguna.

The exhibition, called Wearable Futures, has two major components and will present the following:

• Undergraduate student outputs from the Wearable Futures Hackathon: a 12-week-long hybrid learning experience collaboratively created with and for undergraduate students at UPOU and explores wearable technology, e-textiles, speculative design, and futures thinking. The exhibit features five wearable prototypes exploring information security, physical safety, human movement, farming, and climate change, by sixteen students of the Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies program: Hannah Beraquit, Arvic Angelo B. Cruz, Joshua Albert C. Dema-ala, Airiel Licca Depante, Sapphire Marilag M. Dulorzo, Vernice Bethel C. Gica, Michelle Lado. Faye Anjeli S. Lopez. Laryze Lozano, Patricia Martillano, Pauliana Jamie R. Nicolas, Wrynz Dale Sumande, Rajmyrr S. Suva, Myles Lorraine Tuason, Rel Daryle Dane R. Valle, and Marciano C. Virola III.

• Works-in-progress by the 2022 fellows of the Emerging Futurist Residency, a research and creative virtual/in-person program focused on supporting and nurturing exploration by multidisciplinary teams from different fields. It aims to deconstruct dominant paradigms about the future and develops alternative models through a combination of critical inquiry and hands-on experimentation. The 2022 cohort–composed of fashion designer-architect JJ Aquino, researcher-creative producer Franchesca Casauay, and fashion designer-illustrator Renz Reyes–explores individually and collectively various aspects of the Terno, arguably the Philippines’ most iconic national dress. With Casauay guiding the overall creative production, Aquino and Reyes dismantle and reimagine the Terno’s materiality, construction, and sociocultural function, experimenting with how a Terno might look, move, and come to be in the near future.

The initiative is led by FICS Dean Dr. Diego Maranan, with support from research assistants Jerome Suplemento and Lucky Vengua, in partnership with Space Ecologies Art and Design (SEADS) and the Metafurism Lab.

The event is free and open to the public during the exhibition opening on 02 March, with scheduled visits required during the rest of the exhibition run. To book a visit, please sign up at https://bit.ly/WFExhibitBookingForm.

For inquiries kindly contact [email protected].

Contributed by the UPOU Faculty of Information and Communication Studies