Cian Dayrit: Liberties Were Taken
January 22–April 12, 2025
Solo Exhibition
Curated by PJ Policarpio.
Image: Cian Dayrit. Agrev Algorithm, 2022. Root Division, San Francisco.
Root Division
1131 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
+1 (415) 863-7668
Root Division Website
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Root Division Hours
| Monday | 11:00 am – 6:00 pm |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 11:00 am – 6:00 pm |
| Wednesday | 11:00 am – 6:00 pm |
| Thursday | 11:00 am – 6:00 pm |
| Friday | 11:00 am – 6:00 pm |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
Overview
Today’s LOVE LETTER TO ART features Root Division’s EXCELLENT show Cian Dayrit: Liberties Were Taken, curated by PJ Gubatina Policarpio. It is the first solo exhibition in the Bay Area for the Philippine-based artist.
“Known globally for artworks rooted in activism and a thorough study of history, Dayrit investigates notions of power and identity as represented and reproduced in monuments, museums, and maps.
His work unravels the layering of complex power structures, oppressive systems, and the legacies of colonialism that continue to dominate Philippine society. The exhibition brings together embroidered textiles, elaborate paintings, and multimedia works created over a decade of participatory actions and solidarity work with landless farmers, Indigenous, and marginalized groups in the Philippines and around the world.
Preview of Cian Dayrit: Liberties Were Taken. Root Division, San Francisco.
Deploying visual tools, such as text, maps, and symbols, the artist positions land as a site of struggle through historical references, protest imagery, and grassroots counter-cartography.
While informed by the experience of marginalized communities in the Philippines, Liberties Were Taken invites connections across local and global resistance movements against Injustice and oppression. Root Division is located in the South of Market also recognized as SOMA Pilipinas, a historic and living epicenter of Filipinx American life and culture.”
Cian Dayrit’s textile maps provide a stunning and insightful representation of colonial influences—Chinese, Spanish, Mexican, Japanese, and American—that have shaped Filipino culture. The colonization of the Philippines spanned several centuries with political, religious, and infrastructural implications still felt today.
Because, like any living organism—or group of living organisms—when you push it, when you push it and starve it into a corner, it is bound to fight back.
—Cian Dayrit
Maps are tools used for navigation, property division, and military strategy. Here, Dayrit uses maps as instruments of healing and resistance. Their beautiful embroidery tells the stories of Filipino events that may have remained unseen or forgotten. Feudal Fields: Luisita for example, maps the massacre of striking sugar cane farmworkers at the Hacienda Luisita plantation in 2004. His work serves as both memorials and acts of defiance, preserving the memories of lives lost to modern-day colonialism and government exploitation.
This powerful show is not to be missed. In fact, it deserves to travel to more communities, so its stories of Filipino resilience can be shared.
🗓 Cian Dayrit: Liberties Were Taken is on view until April 12, 2025 at Root Division in San Francisco’s SoMa/SOMA Pilipinas neighborhood. It runs alongside Ji-Young Lee’s 해녀 (Sea Women), which is inspired in part by the legendary ‘sea women’ of Jeju Island, South Korea (Closes April 6, 2025).
Join Root Division for their first ever Flourish: A Spring Soirée (Fundraiser) on May 2, 2025—an evening of cocktails, bites, music, art at the stunning Four One Nine—all in support of this vital institution in the San Francisco arts community. Tickets start at $195.
💌 Did you see the show(s) or try any of our recommendations? What did you think? Let us know in the comments (in the Reviews section located on the second tab at the top of the page).
Quick Guide: Root Division
⭐ EXHIBITIONS:
- ON VIEW: Cian Dayrit: Liberties Were Taken – A powerful exploration of colonialism, power, and resistance in the Philippines expressed through intricately mapped narratives. Curated by PJ Policarpio. (Closes April 12, 2025); Ji-Young Lee‘s 해녀 (Sea Women), which is inspired in part by the legendary ‘sea women’ of Jeju Island, South Korea—female divers who harvest seafood independently. (Closes April 6, 2025).
- UPCOMING: New Growth: Rooted Together – Showcases student artwork created throughout Root Division’s free after-school Youth Education Program. (May 7–May 31, 2025)
⭐ LOCATION: Root Division is a nonprofit arts organization located at 1131 Mission Street in San Francisco’s SoMa/SOMA Pilipinas neighborhood. In addition to hosting exhibitions, workshops, classes, and events, the org provides FREE OPEN STUDIO SPACE to 20+ artists. It’s a 5 minute walk from the Civic Center Bart Station. Closest Muni bus line is the 14 stop at Mission and 7th Street, a half-block from the gallery.
⭐ HOURS: The gallery is open Monday–Friday 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. and by appointment as well.
⭐ EVENTS: Flourish: A Spring Soirée (Fundraiser with cocktails, bites, music, art at stunning Four One Nine on May 2, 2025.) Tickets start at $195.
⭐ NEARBY ART:
- Asian Art Museum (Civic Center) | ON VIEW: Qi Baishi: Inspiration in Ink (Closes April 7, 2025). Yuan Goang-Ming: Everyday War (April 3–July 7, 2025). UPCOMING: Project Dastaan (داستان/दास्तान: “Story”) (April 17–June 2, 2025) | 10 min walk/3 min drive
- Tenderloin Museum (Tenderloin) | UPCOMING: Lady Harriet Sebastian: The Bridgemen (April 3–May 31, 2025) | 11 min walk/7 min drive
- Four One Nine (SoMa) | UPCOMING EVENTS: Flourish: A Spring Soirée (Fundraiser) for Root Division with cocktails, bites, music, art on May 2, 2025. Tickets start at $195. | 7 min walk/3 min drive
- Jonathan Carver Moore (Tenderloin) | ON VIEW: Beautiful Scars – Group exhibition feat. Chantal Hildebrand, Helina Metaferia, Maya Seas, Mary Graham, Rugiyatou Ylva Jallow, Tahirah Rasheed, Tania Banegas and Yoyo Lander. (Closes April 12, 2025) |11 min walk/8 min drive
- Saint Joseph’s Arts Society (SoMa) | ON VIEW: Don’t miss Saint Joseph’s FANTASTIC shows: Material Continuum; Flights of Fantasy: Works by Sylvan Fiss; Miriam Hitchcock: All At Once (Closes April 11, 2025) | 11 min walk/5 min drive
- Weinstein Gallery (SoMa) | ON VIEW: Modern Women – Group exhibition feat. paintings, works on paper, and sculptures by Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini, Francoise Gilot, Juanita Guccione, Jacqueline Lamba, Alice Mattern, Irene Rice Pereira, Alice Rahon, Hilla Rebay, Kay Sage, Stella Snead, Dorothea Tanning, and Remedios Varo. (Closes May 17, 2025) | 18 min walk/6 min drive
- Kapwa Gardens (SoMa) | Community space within a vibrant rooftop garden celebrating Filipino culture, wellness, and art in SF’s SOMA Pilipinas neighborhood. | 7 min walk/2 min drive
- Explore San Francisco’s 20+ Filipino heritage murals with the SOMA Pilipinas Mural Map.
⭐ NEARBY DINING:
- Montesacro (SoMa) | AMAZING PIZZA. | 6 min walk/2 min drive
- Proper Hotel’s Villon (Tenderloin) | Breakfast/brunch/lunch restaurant. | 5 min walk/4 min drive
- Arsicault Bakery (Tenderloin) | Holy CROISSANT! | 6 min walk/3 min drive
A LOVE LETTER TO ART’S CHEAP & CHEERFUL PICK
- Tú Lan (Tenderloin) | Quick and DELICIOUS Vietnamese—so good, even Julia Child was a fan! | 7 min walk/4 min drive
A LOVE LETTER TO ART’S ROMANTIC PICK
- Proper Hotel’s Charmaine’s Rooftop Bar (Tenderloin) | *MY FAVE ROOFTOP BAR IN SF. | 5 min walk/4 min drive
💌 More nearby suggestions are always welcome. Feel free to add in the comments!
A LOVE LETTER TO ART RECOMMENDS
NEARBY ART
The Tenderloin Museum celebrates the rich history of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.
NEARBY FOOD/DRINK
RELATED POSTS
MORE EXHIBITIONS FROM PJ POLICARPIO
RELATED VIDEOS
Cian Dayrit’s Artist Talk for The Accursed Share. Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh.
The Sago Show’s Lasa and Legacy Series: The Filipino Struggle for the I-Hotel & Pancit Bihon
Author: ALoveLettertoArt
