In The NeverEnding Story, Cris Mora explores the cyclical patterns that Filipino history and society appear to follow.  The two video works utilize the ever repeating, never ending gif format so ubiquitous on today’s web.  It highlights the external and internal forces that are keeping the country in a seemingly inescapable loop.

24 na Bagyo sa Pilipinas depicts the 24 typhoons to make landfall in the Philippines, including Typhoon Haiyan (known as Yolanda in the Philippines), which was one of the most powerful storms ever recorded.  Typhoons are an annual occurrence in the Philippines that causes significant loss of life and property damage.  It is a recurring tragedy and on-going trauma that gets worse with each passing year due to the ever increasing impact of climate change.  The situation is perpetuated by the failure of the international community to curb the effects of climate change and by the local Philippine government in their failure to prepare for these predictable disasters.

You are Telling the Children Lies highlights a repeating pattern of a different sort.  Filipino politics is rife with examples of disgraced politicians returning to the national stage after a period of cleansing their image.  In 1972, then President Ferdinand Marcos declared a state of martial law in the Philippines.  This marked a 14-year period of dictatorial rule that was marked by killings, disappearances, silencing of the free press and the suspension of the democratic process.  Since he was ousted from power in 1986, the Marcos family has engaged in a campaign of disinformation, misinformation and historical revisionism to restore their family’s image.  This work to cast the martial law period as a golden age laid the groundwork for the  election of Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr., the son of the late dictator, as the 17th president of the Philippines.

Cris Mora is a Filipino-Canadian artist and cultural worker. He was born in Manila in 1984 and moved to Toronto at the age of four. Mora studied Visual Art and Economics at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He works across disciplines and media to explore the relationship between politics, migration and identity. In addition to his art practice, Mora is also an experienced cultural worker. He has worked as an arts administrator in North America, Europe and Asia. He is currently the Public Art Coordinator at the City of Surrey, BC. Mora has exhibited in Canada, Singapore and the Philippines.