Filipino Fashion Show and Performance
with Merly and Louisa Parkinson
4 December 2021
6.30–7.30pm
You’re invited to explore the vibrant heritage of Filipino textiles in a fashion parade and cultural performance with mother-daughter duo Merly and Louisa Parkinson.
Merly Parkinson owns the largest collection of Filipino garments in Australia including authentic handmade traditional costumes, attire, and gowns, which she hires out across the country for pageants and events. Expanding on the Filipino textile traditions imbued in Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan’s installation See/Through, Merly will present selected garments from her lovingly built collection and perform a traditional Filipino folk dance alongside her daughter Louisa.
Accessibility information:
We are committed to making the IMA accessible to people of all abilities, their families, and carers as well as visitors of different ages and different backgrounds. There is wheelchair access and an accessible toilet with baby changing facilities also located on the ground floor and we welcome guide and support dogs. To find out more contact us at ima@ima.org.au or call 07 3252 5750. Read our access information for visitors here.
Please do not attend if, in the last 14 days you have:
—returned to Australia from overseas (other than a safe travel zone country)
—been in close contact with an active COVID-19 case
—been in a Queensland declared COVID-19 hotspot, place of concern or exposure venue, as defined by the Chief Health Officer
—had a fever, cough, sore throat, headache, distorted sense of taste, shortness of breath, chills, vomiting or any cold/flu like symptoms in the last 72 hours
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Merly Parkinson hails from the Southern Island of Philippines, Mindanao. Merly settled in Australia in the early 1990s and became a founding member of a growing Filipino community in Brisbane. For nearly 30 years, Merly has been a representative of Filipino culture in Brisbane through dance performances at multicultural and Philippine consulate events, with her children joining in. Her daughter Louisa performs with Merly on stage and assists with teaching Filipino dance and language classes to adoptive Filipino children and their Australian families.
Louisa and Merly work together in organising the largest Filipino festival in Brisbane, the Barrio Fiesta, held annually in June at the Rocklea Showgrounds in celebration of Philippine Independence Day. Merly has amassed the largest collection of Filipino traditional attire in the country. Merly’s collection is regularly hired by Filipinos and locals in Brisbane for multicultural events, photo shoots, weddings and beauty pageants.
