Lydia Querian’s Farewell Message 

To the Kularts Board Members, Staff, Artists, and Supporters,

It is with a heavy heart that I write this farewell letter to you all.

Long before I became part of the board, Kularts had already become instrumental to my survival throughout my diasporic life, both artistically and personally. Nearly fifteen years ago, I serendipitously found myself walking into a Kularts workshop audition. I still vividly remember that moment: entering a room where the mighty presence and leadership of Alleluia Panis radiated so powerfully that I immediately saw the image of a mother I would eventually come to call my Art Mama.

Over time, I evolved as an artist and as a human being rooted in intentionality and offering my work, my spirit, and my life to the ancestral lineages we all continue to carry within us. When I embarked on my first Tribal Tour in 2015, I knew something had shifted in me. I knew I was stepping into work that was no longer just about myself, but about influencing generations to come.

During my time as president, I have been humbled to lead a team of board members who poured their hearts into realizing a lifelong dream: creating a Kularts performance space in partnership with APICC. It was a long and challenging process, but one rooted in love, vision, and commitment to the future. To witness us collectively move toward creating a home for Kularts, a dream that Manai has carried for so long, has been one of the greatest honors of my life.

Alongside that journey, we also survived a pandemic that challenged all of us in unimaginable ways. But even in uncertainty, Kularts never stopped creating. We continued building spaces of resilience and community, including the powerful Voices from the Field conference, where we collaborated with major organizations throughout the diaspora and the Philippines to hold dialogue, healing, and cultural continuity during a time when the world felt fractured.

During almost two decades collectively immersed in Kularts and its work, my husband and I founded House of Gongs, an organization adjacent to Kularts’ mission and vision. Kularts influenced me in ways that made me realize corporate work was never my path. Instead, it helped me understand a calling and a vision of my own, what Manai would often describe as something “bigger than myself.”

Today, House of Gongs has grown into a one-of-a-kind space where diasporic artists can learn, foster community, and create innovative contemporary works while remaining rooted in Indigenous tradition and guided by the wisdom of elders whom Alleluia has worked with since the 80s. We have now expanded our operations into Hawai‘i while continuing to serve artists throughout California and we cannot express enough gratitude for how much Kularts and Alleluia have influenced this becoming.

It is with sadness, but also excitement, that I announce my departure as Board President of Kularts. I do not necessarily see this as a farewell. Rather, it feels like a new beginning.

Alleluia and I are now moving into a new chapter as partners, working on exciting future projects together. Kularts will always remain our elder organization, the sacred core of why we do this work in the first place. In many ways, this moment feels like a child preparing to leave their parents’ home: emotional, uncertain, and deeply transformative. But I also know there are new adventures ahead that are meant to carry forward the legacy of Alleluia Panis, Danongan Kalanduyan, and the many elders whose teachings continue to guide us.

As House of Gongs has begun operating in Hawai‘i, we have established programs that have deeply touched Sakada descendants and local communities throughout the islands. Alongside this, we are developing a new performing arts initiative, Banua Katao, which seeks to explore and present the relationships between Indigenous Pilipino culture and the broader Pacific through the migration pathways of our Austronesian ancestors.

This work has been deeply fulfilling, but it also carries an immense responsibility, a kuleana, an ayuwan. It is the responsibility of carrying forward the legacies entrusted to us by our elders while creating pathways for generations to remember who they are.

These years with Kularts have been among the most beautiful chapters of my life. I owe so much of my diasporic journey to this organization and to Manai. Though I may be stepping away from this role, please know that I will always remain part of this family, always ready to support in whatever ways I can.

May the gongs be with you all, always.

With love and endless gratitude,

Lydia Querian