Vien Valencia explores artivism—the powerful intersection of art and activism—as a tool for connection, remembrance, and resistance. Drawing from personal experiences of displacement and a lifelong search for belonging, Vien shares the story of how art became a space to question systems, preserve memory, and spark collective action.Through the Tinipak River Archive, Vien works alongside the Dumagat Remontado community, whose ancestral lands are threatened by the construction of the Kaliwa Dam. More than an artistic initiative, this project documents material and emotional histories of the river, transforming art into a vessel for advocacy and solidarity. Vien’s talk invites the audience to reflect on how creativity can be used to confront injustice, amplify marginalized voices, and build new paths forward, especially at pivotal turning points in society.At the heart of Vien's message is a simple, urgent truth: the right to space is the right to dignity. And through art, we find the courage to protect that right for ourselves and for others. Vien Valencia centers his practice on the act of recording spaces, conditions, and situations that resist documentation. His work explores how people shape their spaces and how spaces, in turn, shape them. He has immersed himself in local communities, creating drawings, photographs, and materials that reject traditional methods of archiving. In 2023, Valencia received the Ateneo Art Award, followed by the Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artists Award in 2024. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx