Portrait of artists as Filipino

Portrait of artists as Filipino

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Published on Thursday, 31 January 2013 23:00

Written by ARNEL RAMOS

By A Web design Company

WHERE Philippine art is concerned and its relevance to a people whose foremost concerns can be narrowed down to securing three meals in a day, sending children to school and laughing at the sarcastic punchlines of comedian Vice Ganda on the tube, the last one the most inexpensive means of escape from their dreary, colorless lives, writers are often left stupefied, prone to designing a big lamentation piece.

All it takes to ease the gnawing feeling that Pinoys, especially the poor and marginalized, regard paintings, sculptures, installation pieces, and other things of wonder and beauty with scant interest are a few minutes of free-flowing exchange with Geraldine de Borja-Araneta, one of the organizers of Art Fair Philippines 2013. 

De Borja-Araneta brims with optimism and bristles with faith in what the Filipino artists are capable of. She is – make no mistake about it – grounded and acknowledges that the territory is plagued with all sorts of dilemmas, but you would not hear a single whine from her. For this passionate woman, there is work to be done and there is simply no time to waste.

Eureka moment

De Borja-Araneta’s deep commitment to the arts did not follow a grand design. It came to her almost by serendipity. After finishing Humanities from UP Diliman, Dindin (that’s how close associates address this seemingly indefatigable lady) found herself at a standstill. “When I graduated from school,” she recalls, “I was trying to figure out (what to do). I had certain interests but I didn’t have specific interests. Yet I needed to find work. I was like any fresh graduate who didn’t know what I really wanted to do in life but (I knew) I was interested in learning.”

A visit to the famous Louvre Museum in Paris some time later provided the answer. “I had the chance to see the exhibition of the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It was on top of the stairs and it was installed so beautifully and so eloquently and so elegantly,” remembers Dindin.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called the Nike of Samothrace, is a 2nd Century BC marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory). Since 1884, it has been prominently displayed at the Louvre and is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world. The moment, adds Dindin, was so entrancing that words escaped her. “Right away, when I came home (to Manila), I knew that that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Fortunately, there was an opening at the Ayala Museum then and I applied right away. And ever since then, 20 years later, I had been carrying on the torch, working with different institutions.”

The need for museum education

Philippine arts and culture is not without its share of challenges. There is, for instance, the question of funding. “There is, however, better effort and funding in the last 10 years. We can cite the National Museum, the government gave them half a billion budget. But before, it was always about if you have money, you have to patch the roof. It always becomes an infrastructure concern. If you’re just maintaining the building, how do you exhibit a collection? It’s a matter of how you harness your resources and towards what direction can you harness your resources for the institution to flourish.”

Thankfully, non-profit groups like the Synergia Foundation have been showing unwavering support. “It has devoted money to arts education and museum education,” notes Dindin. “I started my career in 1992. What we’ve not been able to get a significant handle on is really museum education. You really have to integrate it into the curriculum. It’s (art appreciation) instilled but you have to be able to support it with the educational and cultural infrastructure, with the family structure. You have to be able to support it with the whole community just wanting to work with arts and culture as a platform for education. It’s being done, it’s happening but it has to be sustainable. You have to go beyond one exhibit, one Art Fair, one education program.”

All sectors coming together for a common goal is key. “The government and the private sector have to work together. It’s like with anything in this country, all sectors have to cooperate. We also need the senators to help us. But there are people in the government who are interested to help out but the problem with arts is that it’s a sideline eh.”

It is a sad fact that bears retelling. “In other countries, the First World Countries,” points out Dindin, “the cultural institutions are so well-managed. It has to do rin talaga with the economy of the country.”

That is quite a pity if we are to take into consideration that Pinoy artists, in terms of talent, skills, and discipline, are at par with the best of the world. “For a country like ours where the people are so artistic, (nakakalungkot). When you go to other countries, they have the money for culture but not necessarily the soul.”

Focus on Philippine art

Still, there is no denying that these are interesting times for Pinoy art. “Philippine art as well as Southeast Asian art, the interest is moving to this side of the world. Recently, the Guggenheim Museum (in New York) put up an exhibition of Southeast Asian art and they had a curator from Singapore and one of our homegrown artists Norberto Roldan was one of those featured in it.”

Filipino artists and galleries have also been participating in art fairs and museum exhibitions all over the globe. “There are also collectors now interested in Philippine art,” says Dindin. “Everything happened in the last maybe 6 to 8 years.”

And if the rest of the world is slowly paying attention to Philippine art, wouldn’t it be strange if Filipinos themselves – and by that, we mean every Juan de la Cruz, regardless of age and station in life – would be deprived of the chance to appreciate their own?

With that in mind, Dindin and her partners thought of holding Art Fair Philippines. Dubbed as “art in a car park,” Art Fair Philippines was a two-year pet project. “My partners and I are members of the Museum Foundation of the Philippines. We’re volunteers there, we organize an affordable art fair called Art in the Park where the price points are 30 thousand and below. The reception has been very enthusiastic and we’ve had 7 incarnations of Art in the Park.”

Much has been said about Art Fair Philippines 2013’s novel concept – that of using a car park as venue to showcase the best of Philippine modern and contemporary art. From February 7 to 10, Makati City plays host to Art Fair Philippines 2013, which shall be held at the The Link car park located between Makati Shangri-La Hotel and Landmark. Visitors will be welcomed at an especially-commissioned reception desk – made entirely of San Miguel Beer crates – by Norberto “Peewee” Roldan, Jr. “It was a mutually exciting experience for the organizers, for all the partners, and for all the galleries. We could also have chosen to set it up in an events venue but the character of the fair would also have been different eh. We also wanted something that would stand out as an event,” explains Dindin of the choice of venue.

It is, in a way, inspired by the Armory Show, a leading international contemporary and modern art fair that takes place every March on Piers 92 and 94 in central Manhattan in New York. “Although we knew about that, we didn’t know when we were planning it a year and a half ago that we would end up in this venue.”

The logistics, says Dindin, are expectedly something to hurdle. But then again, Dindin and her partners are the kind who shrugs at the thought of what is perceived to be unimaginable and undo-able. “We had to board up the place,” shares Dindin, her eyes quickly running the breadth of the parking area that in less than two weeks at the time of our interview would transform into a sort of haven for Philippine art. “We have to construct the space, and get air-conditioning, wire everything, get wi-fi.”

Looking into Dindin’s kind, benevolent eyes, one almost sees a clear picture of this not-to-be-missed affair. Consider this: twenty-four invited galleries and art groups, chosen for carefully edited selections from their roster of artists, will mount especially curated shows. Tin-Aw Art Gallery will feature a solo show by Mark Justiniani, while Canvas will work with six artists, including Elmer Borlongan, Emmanuel Garibay, and Don Salubayba, on the theme “Looking for Juan in Basketball.” Salcedo Auctions will have works by London-based Filipino artist David Cortez Medalla, National Artist J. Elizalde Navarro, and from the estate of Onib Olmedo. Other major galleries participating are Silverlens, The Drawing Room, Galleria Duemila, Blanc, Artinformal, Manila Contemporarary, Finale Art File, West Gallery, MO_Space, Boston Gallery, among others. Taking center stage is “Asphalt,” a rambling installation by sculptor Gabriel Barredo. Ronald Ventura will showcase his artwork, too.

Dindin avows that Art Fair Philippines will not be a mere confluence of works that highlight Pinoy ingenuity, craftsmanship, and creativity. The effect targeted is that of being provided with a multilayered experience. As such, lectures will be held at the Ayala Museum and art installations will adorn select areas within Ayala Center.

At the heart of it, Art Fair Philippines aims to bring art closer to people – students, art aficionados, even the merely curious. Because as things stand, art should not alienate people. It is meant to be savored, marveled at, celebrated. “ It’s always important to understand your history as a people, your culture,” states Dindin De Borja-Araneta and we couldn’t agree more.

Art is for everyone

While we are at it, art should just as well blur the lines between the rich and the poor. That even in the face of our everyday woes and worries, it is never too daunting to make art possible. At its core, art is tantamount to the act of creating. Even in the littlest manifestations, art can be gleaned. “Like a child who ventures out to pick flowers of every hue,” we offer which Dindin finishes for us, “and then she proceeds to organize it.”

It really is, Dindin De Borja-Araneta agrees and we nod our head vigorously. And like that moment that changed the course of this woman’s life – unfazed in her personal advocacy by the ills and setbacks that characterize the other side of the Philippine art scene – many moons ago at the Louvre while staring at a work of extraordinary splendor, words are suddenly rendered mute.

 

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Portrait of artists as Filipino