Crystal Z. Campbell's Film 'Makahiya' to Screen on Syracuse's Everson Museum Facade

Crystal Z. Campbell's new film, Makahiya, is on view on the facade the I.M. Pei designed Everson Museum in Syracuse. Campbell will be in Syracuse for an Artist talk on Thursday, March 21 at 6pm at the Everson Museum Hosmer Auditorium (401 Harrison St, Syracuse, NY 13202). All are welcome to join. 

About the film: 

"Makahiya,” a Tagalog word that translates to “shame” or “shyness”, is Campbell’s latest short experimental film. Rooted in botanical research on a plant that displays the unusual trait of thigmonasty, or touch-induced movement, Campbell’s film is structured like intertwined vines. Digital video filmed on a recent trip to their mother’s ancestral homeland in the Philippines mingles with hand-drawn animations, manipulated photographs and archival news coverage of the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo and its aftermath. “Makahiya” explores this seemingly sentient plant’s paradoxical identity, from rampant “invasive” weed to medicinal plant, reflecting on photosynthesis, memory and the violent colonial impetus of regimented forgetting.