The Lab Community

Abner Torres Delina Jr. is the third of five children raised by parents who were both community leaders from the coastal areas of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. At twelve, he started living independently, studying Theater Arts at the Philippine High School for the Arts. He graduated AB Arts Management at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde. Today, Abner identifies as a posthuman artivist, post-dramatic performance-maker, post-disciplinary cultural weaver, and founding leader-artistic director (MaPa) of BLACK CANVAS collective, nurturing care culture, global justice, and ecological healing. He partners with the Cultural Center of the Philippines, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the Department of Education’s arts therapy, arts education, and climate action programs. His current projects focus on the intersections of mental health, human rights, and climate crisis. As an actor, he top-billed in award-winning Filipino productions and international films. He hosted as “Kuya Fidel” in Batibot children’s television show, “Kuya Art” in Arts Online, and starred in Sirena, a queer viral music video. He represented the Philippines at Kuandu Arts Festival (Taiwan), Asian Performing Arts Forum (Japan), and is the recipient of an Asian Cultural Council Grant (USA). He joined International Interdisciplinary Artists Consortium residency and introduced KAMALAYAAN practice in Moving Arts Lab. Abner (meaning: father of light) lives to liberate the world through embodied, posthuman, queer, eco-feminist, and intersectional perspectives.