Our Mission

We offer a space of dialogue and convergence amongst artists and scholars.
Starting from the perspectives of Filipinos around the world, the Center for Art and Thought (CA+T) harnesses the potential of digital and new media technologies in order to foster dialogues between artists, scholars, and the broader public. A web-based nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status, we believe that the convergence of art and critical thought, as exemplified by our virtual residency program, is a crucial way to generate new modes of knowledge production and creative and critical lenses for understanding and transforming global conditions.

We understand global processes through the experiences of the Filipino diaspora.
We examine Filipinos’ experiences to learn about the rest of the world. As a site where colonialism and neocolonialism, militarization, migration, and globalization all come together, the Philippines and its diaspora exemplify the global dynamics and processes of the last five centuries. CA+T thus takes the Philippines and Filipinos around the world as a point of departure—rather than a point of arrival—for bringing into focus and understanding other histories, spaces, and communities.

We emphasize the importance of curation in the digital era.
CA+T pays attention to curation—the way we collect, organize, present, and mold content—in this new media and digital age in order to make the most of the possibilities of digital media while remaining aware of their limitations. For instance, we ask, what counts as content and how does that affect virtual curation? Why do we include or exclude an item? How do we present the items we choose to preserve? We embrace curation that demands innovation through the continual rethinking of media in an era transformed by the digital.

We are a literacy project that educates users to make art and knowledge accessible.
We want our users to do more than merely pass on and repeat what they see, hear and think. CA+T draws attention to the need for flexible, skillful reading practices and engaged user experiences. Committed to critical modes of thinking and learning, we offer a virtual space of possibility for the transformation of art and knowledge. As a means of fulfilling this goal in today’s media-saturated society, we emphasize the importance of media and cultural literacy in both online and offline forms.