10 years of spilling ink

A series of exhibitions by members of Ang Illustrador ng Kabataan (INK) mark the group’s 10th year anniversary. An exhibit at the lobby of the EDSA Shangri-La Plaza Mall has just ended, while two more are still ongoing at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. These exhibitions highlight the growing importance of illustration for Filipino children’s books. INK members have won prestigious prizes for their achievement in this field from award-giving bodies here and abroad.

The exhibit at the Shangri-La Plaza consisted of illustrations that were inspired by the number 10. One of those that stood out was by Naga-based artist Jack Hernandez, where windows on a mat board divided it into 10 frames. Each one has children’s rhymes, making viewers reflect on the numbers 1 to 10. Mitzi Reyes, a visual communication professor at the U.P. College of Fine Arts, made bright, multi-colored seahorses float on dark blue waters. The rocks and sea grass on the ocean floor, plus the bubbles from the seahorses, make the illustration look magical. The more haunting image came from Jason Moss’ "Ten Guesses," where 10 mysterious creatures hang from a dark, leafless tree. It left me wondering why a small figure at the foot of the tree is holding up a live coal. Did he torch the smoldering tent behind him?

At the CCP exhibit, individual members display their favorite or their popular illustrations done during the last 10 years. These included the award-winning pieces.

Meanwhile, a review of past works relating to the growth of the children’s book industry and the bright future of children’s book illustrations hang at the Met. In both these exhibitions, I find quite a few of the Ang INK members’ works outstanding. It makes a difference that I am seeing many without texts, which usually happens once their corresponding images are published. Despite their relationship with a story (as is the convention of book illustrations), when images are free from words, credits and company logo, the line between applied and fine art becomes thinner.

Many of those on exhibit in the two museums are excellent pieces of work. Perhaps this can be attributed to many of the Ang INK members work in both the world of "fine" art (including painting and printmaking) and "applied" art (including children’s book illustration and print advertising).

In many instances, these artists’ fine artworks are supported by the work in the applied art field. If this practice took place in the art capitals of Europe or the United States, it might have meant the end of an artist’s career. To crossover contradicts with their practices of specialization there. Here, few artists can afford not to compromise and get into the applied or commercial arts. It has also been part of the tradition of our art practice. The most famous among these crossover artists is Fernando Amorsolo who did illustrations for grade school textbooks such as The Philippine Reader.

"I wouldn’t call it compromise," says recent past Ang INK president Ruben de Jesus, who is also chair of the Department of Visual Communication at the U.P. College of Fine Arts. "It is more like having the best of both worlds. Only people who are purists and think their art is ruined by work in the commercial arts would think of it as compromise."

In the Philippines, there is also the added factor of having to be open to different types of work because of economics. Very few artists actually earn a living from just exhibiting their artworks. Many of them have to take on other projects that will allow them to keep making art.

In a sense, 10 years is a short time to claim that book illustration is an established profession in this country. It is actually only starting to gain ground, with lots of support from some publishers. In the Junior Inquirer, which is a Saturday supplement of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, illustrations by Ang INK members appear each week. Bookmark has also printed multiple copies of their work and made into bookplates from individual members’ portfolio. Those that appeared in the 1998 Ayala Museum exhibit, Inkwento — Tales told to Filipino Children, became a set of 30 cards. They also collaborated with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Philippines and Animal Planet to produce a workbook on Philippine animals. Each spread in the workbook involved one or two artists.

"The most important thing we encourage members to do," explains Ouie Badelles, present Ang INK president, "is for them to build a portfolio and their confidence." Badelles, who is also an art teacher at the Ateneo de Manila, also began by getting into projects and joining workshops.

Founded in 1991, Ang INK was formed after a workshop sponsored by the Goethe Institut and the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY). Since then its members, who come from all sorts of backgrounds and whose involvement in children’s book illustration is variable, gained recognition from the public and award-giving bodies.

Ferdinand Doctolero’s Ang Sundalong Patpat (The Stick Soldier) has won 2nd Prize in the 1998 Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustration. This competition is held every two years in Tokyo, Japan. Ruben de Jesus also won the Encouragement Prize in the same competition last year for his Ang Mahiyaing Manok (The Shy Chicken). Getting published and winning competitions is not all what Ang INK members strive for. They aspire for a wider distribution of children’s books so young people can have access to them.

In a round-table meeting with PBBY last year, children’s writers and illustrators spoke about personal childhood experiences regarding their access to books. They would like to work together to make sure well-illustrated and good storybooks flourish. These should be in all public and school libraries.

One strategy they hope will be adopted here is similar to the Caldecott Medal in the United States given by the National Association of Librarians. After choosing a winner from books published that year, a medal is awarded, and the winning book is purchased and distributed to all public libraries. The librarians’ association will also guarantee at least a million print runs or copies.

If they want the same condition for children’s book publishing, as above, Ang INK should go beyond the standard exhibition fare they put out to celebrate their anniversaries. I quite enjoyed their work on exhibit, but 10 years of that can take its toll by saturating the public with very similar works. As their usual practice, organizers of the exhibition did some screening of those turned in by the participating illustrators for their exhibitions. These resulted into a better display that is more coherent, give or take a few token acceptances of illustrations for exhibitions. I suppose this habit of accommodating friends, especially in an organization that is relatively small, will take some time to change into a more mature group with better sets of criteria for peer review.

For children’s book illustration to gain better ground, Ang INK should go beyond copying "fine" art practices of exhibiting works in traditional spaces such as the EDSA Shangri-La, CCP and the Met. Apart from the mall, few people actually go to museums. After all, the best proof that they have achieved recognition is through popularity (and perhaps sales) of the books they have illustrated. More should be done in converting children’s writers and illustrators into household names. (Remember Dr. Seuss?) Otherwise it will be much spilled ink over nearly nothing.

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