Written by Kiefer Occeno, photography by Nicolas Tolentino and Caleb Ampadu

This article is a submission by Silay-born pocket-sized art and design collective Sachet Projects. Edits were made by Type B.

Looking into pages of old journals and childhood memories as an adult invites a deliberate recall, more so for queer people who had to deal with complex situations in terms of navigating identity and connection. Sachet Projects holds a real-life space for this narrative with Distant Diaries, an art exhibition and zine launch at Damgo Café, Silay City. Co-curated by Geli Arceño and Ginoe, the group retrospective reimagines the coffee shop to hold pages of memories, delivering a conversation between the past and the present on the messy journey of growing up queer.

The show opened on May 30 to kick off Pride Month, featuring works from artists Faye Abantao, Ube Becaro, Brandon Braza, Mark Espuerta, Isobel Francisco, Daryl Feril, Ginoe, Inah Maravilla, Alexandria Mesias, Zabiel Nemenzo, Tokwa Peñaflorida, and Roselle Perez. 

Sachet Projects regards Damgo as a fitting local fixture for this show, as the space is no stranger to holding art exhibitions and other cultural events, especially ones that celebrate the local Queer community. It also held space for Sachet Project’s Pride Month group show last year, Foreverafters. 

Damgo Cafè’s walls were painted with red and blue lines, reminiscent of childhood staple stationery pad paper. The walls frame the artworks hung on them like rediscovered old doodles and passages on the page, remembered and ready to finally be made sense of. The pieces on display for the group exhibit are a mix of both old and new. Some of them are works made in childhood and together show a queer community’s journey of becoming, the shared experience of coming-of-age. Geli Arceño writes in the exhibition notes, “Distant Diaries is an invitation to reach out in tenderness to the past and look back, with wiser and kinder eyes.”

The zine itself is a collection of poetry, essays, and recollections: all letters to the younger selves of the contributors. At the back, Geli and Ginoe wrote: “This publication is a physical manifestation of our ability to hold and re-member the plurality of our lives amidst the terrain of untruths, slop, and tyranny.” The open house is also a manifestation of allowing the community to take part, with an outpouring response seen as the small cafe was filled to the brim on opening night.

The open house began with the authors of the pieces themselves or their loved ones reading from the zine, sharing stories and moments of connection with the audience in-between.  Contributors to the zine included earlier mentioned artists and Rafi Bunal, Andy Tubig, Frank Brobio, Alelee Alvarez, Jannele Jimenez, Caleb Ampadu, Rei Bande, Dev Albao, Khokhoi, Ryan Alcarde, Peter Solis Nery, Geli Arceño, and the late RJ Nichole Ledesma. 

RJ was a writer, journalist, and human rights activist. He was one of the 19 people massacred by the AFP during their strafing operations in Toboso, Negros Occidental on April 26. He was dedicated to writing for the community at large and spent his time championing social causes. Distant Diaries is a tribute to him, to remember and celebrate the life of a valued member of the community and the lives of so many others owed justice deserve. 

After the reading, drag queen Louise set up and took control of the space. She began her number by putting on her silver blonde wig and and performed a lipsync of Britney Spears’ “I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman” and Jennifer Hudson’s rendition of “And I am Telling You I’m Not Going.” with comedic skits interspersed. Her performance takes her out the door, even reaching all the way out onto the street at one point, before coming back inside for the big finish.

As much as Distant Diaries is centered on honoring the past, it is also firmly present in the moment with a profound sense of gratefulness for here and now, one that you could hear all the way from the other street. The image of coming together for such reasons was once a daydream, but now it is a memory that everyone in attendance holds.

Sticking true to how Sachet Projects’ exhibition openings always end in dancing, M4riw4r4 closed the night out with a DJ set. The cafe remained packed until late at night, with loved ones moving their bodies to the beat under dim light, fanning themselves with each step. When tired, they went outside. Some joined friends in conversation, exchanging reminiscences and enjoying the more open air. Some found seating and passed drinks around to refresh. Jokes were thrown, and laughter filled the air. It was a collection of moments where the community came together to kick off Pride month and look back how the struggles we won over allowed all of us more freedom to gather and express ourselves. It was as if we collectively reopened a diary, turning pages and getting through chapters together.

We recall RJ’s piece in the zine, where he writes about being in his late teens and being unable to imagine reaching his late 20s. The future in general feels even more formless to him. But by the end, through time, age, and experience, the piece shows him coming to learn more of life and of himself. He ends his piece with these lines, “…I can now see the contours of the future, no longer nebulous. I want to be in it, actively shaping it, stubbornly persisting, despite the many insistent points of relapse. I want to grow old doing the work that I do. I do not want to die.” 

His memory lives on with those he loves and those who love him in return. He will continue to stubbornly persist and shape the future through the people he shared his life and work with, and those he inspires to continue the work he unwaveringly strived to do when he was alive. He will always be in our pages, a memorable character in our story 🌈

Distant Diaries will be on view at Damgo Café Shop in Silay City until August 16. Copies of the Distant Diaries zine are also available at Damgo and online.

About the Author

Kiefer Occeno is a Bacolod based writer from Iloilo City whose work explores the absurdity in the mundane. He won a Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature in 2024 for his short story ‘Bee Happy’. He also won Best in Screenplay for Tililing: E-motion Sickness at the 2025 Bacolod film fest.

Sachet Projects is a pocket-sized art and design collective founded in Silay City, Negros Occidental, now based in Makati City, Metro Manila. It also serves as an incubator for exhibitions, exchanges, workshops, talks, and archiving.