These images show a collection of clothing tags photographed by project collaborators, volunteers, and community members during pop-up ukay-ukay markets and clothing swap events in Tramo, Pasig City, Metro Manila, and Little Manila, Queens, New York City. Each tag represents a shared moment of attention—someone pausing to notice where a garment came from, who made it, and how far it has traveled.
Using artificial intelligence (AI), text from the tags was read and recorded, identifying brand names, fabric materials, and countries of manufacture. Together, these details create a map of how clothing made in one part of the world ends up in another—often in countries whose histories include colonial disruption, social upheaval, or environmental degradation tied to global trade.
This project uses participatory action research, a way of doing research where communities help lead the process of gathering and interpreting information. Through shared acts of observation and inquiry, the work invites participants and visitors to imagine how accountability, equity, and care might help mend the lasting effects of discarded materials and the unequal systems that circulate them.