Powerful Pinays: Kim Requesto + Bettina Francisco Debut Artist Projects

One of the most beautiful things about art is when artists boldly and vulnerably tell their stories. These stories, and the way that each artist masters their craft to tell these stories, is what moves our hearts and helps us feel connected to each other, especially during times like this when we need it most. 

This is exactly what we set out to do when we founded Balay Kreative in May 2019, and we’re thrilled to be releasing this first set of artist projects by Kim Requesto and Bettina Francisco; two powerful Pinay artists who were born in the Philippines and raised in the Bay Area. Both of these artists are committed to their communities, and draw so much power in telling stories that we need to hear. 

Kim Requesto, whose lineage spans from Kalinga, Gaddang, Ilocano, & Tagalog, has been part of the Filipino Folk Dance community since 2005 and continues to dance with Parangal Dance Company as one of their Dance Masters. I’ve always been so inspired by her advocacy work with Indigenous communities in the Philippines, and her earnest photographic eye.

In 2016, she received a grant award from the Alliance of California for Traditional Art to apprentice under Kalinga Cultural Master Artist Jenny Bawer Young, and in 2018 studied under Kalinga cultural bearer, Cirilo “Sapi” Bawer in Lubuagan, Kalinga.

Photo by Mogli Maureal @themogli

Her project, “UNEDITED FILM: Gono Hofo, Lake Sebu, Philippines” is from her 2020 trip to Gono Hofo where she stayed with the T’boli community and Master Artist & Chanter Rosie Sula. The proceeds from this book go directly to their School of Living Traditions. Requesto aspires to use visual media and her background in dance to raise awareness and thoughtfulness to the realities of different communities in the Philippines and the diaspora.

Photos by Mogli Maureal @themogli

Bettina Francisco is a recent graduate of the University of San Francisco with an undergraduate degree in Critical Diversity Studies and a minor in Philippine Studies. One of the things I love about Bettina’s work that I also see in many emerging artists is her eagerness and willingness to transform her experiences and communicate them in a way that makes us feel like we are not alone. 

Her art as an emcee and rapper touches on intergenerational trauma, heartbreak, and healing through all of these. Her zine, “Soul Fed” goes track-by-track into the deeper stories and narratives behind her 2019 EP “2 feed the soul”. She tells us that someone once told her, “sometimes what hurts the heart, feeds the soul”, and this project will definitely bring you closer to what that means for her.

Photos by Mogli Maureal @themogli