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Summary

A CHamoru man in the early 1900s holding up a gåyu (fighting rooster)

A CHamoru man in the early 1900s holding up a gåyu (fighting rooster)

A CHamoru man in the early 1900s holding up a gåyu (fighting rooster)
A CHamoru man in the early 1900s holding up a gåyu (fighting rooster) prior to the start of a gayera (cockfight).
 
Although cockfighting as we know it today was introduced to the Marianas during Spanish colonization (most likely via the Philippines), CHamorus practiced a form of bird-fighting prior to European contact.
 
The 1525 account from the Loaisa Expedition describes CHamorus keeping and training doves and then betting on their fights.
 
From the account: “There are no kinds of livestock whatsoever in these islands, not even chickens nor any [land-based] birds, except some turtle doves or birds that look very much like them. They keep the said doves and raise them in their houses where they keep them in some cages and train them to fight against one another and they place bets on which one will win.”
 
After Spanish colonization and regular cultural contact with the Philippines was established, bird fighting, using gåyu or roosters was adopted.
 
This sport was an integral part of CHamoru culture for most of the Spanish period and up until the 20th century. It was a regular leisure activity for men on island, and a social highlight at any large celebration or gathering.
 
Cockfighting was banned by the US federal government in all US territories including Guam effective December 2019.

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In her first solo show, Julia Birn presents Chewing on Static. She regards this body of work as an exploration of what it means to live in a life that no longer feels entirely familiar. Ms. Birn uses her work as a way to consider what happens when something changes the way one moves through the world, the relationship with oneself, and understanding of the future, as a result of chronic illness. Her paintings emerge from this unresolved experience, giving shape to the feeling of living with something that cannot always be explained or communicated. Through abstraction, fragmentation, and restricted palettes, the works hold onto that tension, allowing forms to shift and remain ambiguous. What emerges is a reflection of what it is like to live with a reality that has become difficult to recognise. The title of the exhibit, Chewing on Static speaks to the mental noise that comes from searching for clarity, questioning one's own experience, and trying to communicate something that refuses to become simple or certain. It is about what happens when one is forced to construct a new understanding of oneself and continue living within something that is unchosen. Through her work, Birn asks the viewer to enter a space where certainty is difficult to find, and to sit with what cannot be resolved. Julia Birn is an accomplished artist, graphic designer, and entrepreneur, who has participated in multiple large and small group shows in Guam since 2022. She has recently earned her BFA in graphic design from the Savannah College of Art and Design, Summa Cum Laude. Follow her on Instagram @deafeningsilenceco or contact via email at deafeningsilenceco@gmail.com

Chewing on Static

Chewing on Static https://www.guammuseumfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Chewing-on-Static-INSTAGRAM_4K_H265.mov The next exhibit opening October 24, 2026 at the Guam Museum Cafe Gallery. In her first solo show, Julia Birn presents

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