Cian Dayrit: Liberties Were Taken
Curated by PJ Gubatina Policarpio

Exhibition Dates: January 22 - April 5, 2025

Root Division is proud to present Liberties Were Taken, the first solo exhibition in the Bay Area of Philippine-based artist Cian Dayrit. 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. Deploying visual tools, such as text, maps, and symbols, the artist positions land as a site of struggle through historical references, protest imagery, and grassroots counter-cartography.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 (b. 1989, Manila) is an artist working in painting, sculpture, and installation. Dayrit received his BFA at the College of Fine Arts in University of the Philippines where he is currently pursuing a masters in Geography. He is also one of the founding members of Sama-samang Artista Para sa Kilusang Agraryo (SAKA), an alliance of cultural workers advocating for land rights and food sovereignty. He has exhibited in international biennials, including the Sydney Biennial, Gwangju Biennale, Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art; Bangkok Biennale, Kathmandu Triennale, New Museum Triennial, New York; and Göteborg Biennial. Dayrit has also participated in exhibitions at Barbican Art Gallery, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, UK, Museo Reina Sofía and CentroCentro in Madrid; Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh; ParaSite, Hong Kong; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. He lives and works in Rizal, Philippines.