Sa gitna ng luha't kalungkutan

2021

gouache, digital paint, and text

dimensions variable, horizontal orientation

edition of 1

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Miguel Renato Unson was in the Philippine Army Reserve. Because the Philippines was a U.S. colony in 1939, he was conscripted into the U.S. Army during his graduate studies at M.I.T. His repeated appeals to serve in the Pacific Theatre were turned down and instead, he was assigned to the Chemical Warfare Laboratory in Boston.

 

The clippings are taken from one of his official requests—a collection of which have been handed down to his children and grandchildren as we continued his unsuccessful campaign to be recognized as a U.S. Army veteran and granted citizenship.

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The title is the Tagalog translation of the dedication on Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 3.

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Collection: Lacunae

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Intertextual

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Immerwahr, Daniel, How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, Picador, 2020

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Merina, Dorian, Their Last Fight: Filipino Veterans Make A Final Push for Recognition, The American Homefront Project, 2018

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Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Max, Hope Amid Tears: Bethoven's Cello Sonatas, 2021

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