Pinoy artists recall the Bangkok experience
August 18, 2004 | 12:00am
The Philippine delegation to the Asean Art Awards (AAA) 2004 consisted of five young artists with their prize winning works in oil, acrylic, collage and mixed media in a variety of support like stretched or relief canvas, carved rubber and treated bamboo.
Wilson Belarmino, at 40, stood as the eldest in the group, while Don Djerassi Dalmacio and Kawayan de Guia, both 25, were the youngest. The other two artists were Vincent Paul Padilla, 28, and Leonard Aguinaldo, 37. They brought with them works that mirrored quite interestingly, if not convincingly, the catholic persuasions and attitudes informing art making in the country today.
This diversity of artistic concerns is what grand prize winner Aguinaldo probably meant when he said, "Philippine art making has the X-factor, which is the Filipino spirit." Padilla further explains it as a unique feature of the Filipino culture, a confluence of several influences, beliefs and religions. Throw in politics too.
For both Belarmino and Dalmacio, the Filipino entries as a collective did not only have "high workmanship," or uniqueness in terms of materials. More than that, they have competitive edge, what Belarmino refers to as, "angat ang trabaho natin."
Dalmacio observes that the Philippine entries "are more diversified, have wider variations and medyo trendy ang Pinoy. Mas open kasi siguro tayo sa western styles, pero andoon pa rin yung sarili nating identity."
Last week, I provided a brief description of Aguinaldo and De Guia’s works. Let me then do the same with the three works from the Philippines in competition.
Belarmino’s work Preservation of Creation is a mixed media work. It is about the responsibility of human beings to preserve Nature. The people, as stewards of God, are responsible to take good care of His creations.
Belarmino arranges cut bamboo poles vertically in a squarish pictorial format divided into four equal quadrants, presumably a signification of the four cardinal points. The bamboo is used to represent nature. He then appropriates the ancient art of tattooing, a body art practiced by indigenous groups both in the Cordillera and in the Visayas, to decorate the bamboo. Tattoo decals, available commercially in the malls, are randomly appliquéd to the bamboo surface, creating an amalgamated image of tiny flowers, fish, butterflies and other living things that otherwise would decorate the skin of contemporary youth. The message thus is clear. Conserving Nature assures humanity of a constant source of beauty.
Dalmacio’s Barren is a stark oil on canvas painting. Discriminated against, men usually regard women as sex objects. Barren may not only represent the individual woman, but also the country, the motherland being exploited.
The predominantly red composition conveys the artist’s assessment of the conditions of women – hellish and boiling.
The rendering of the woman’s face as doll-like and westernized, indexes the Filipino women being a blend of the east and west. In as much as more and more Filipino women are now career-driven, the artist opines that they should not forget their role as value generators, like unity and strength of family ties.
Through his art, the artist hopes for the audience to see the need to change the treatment being accorded women today in the Asean societies and provide more avenues for them to become productive members of the society.
Boxed In (De Kahon) by Padilla is an oil on relief canvas painting. Padilla’s painting depicts how people trap themselves in their self-made monotonous or "boxed" existence.
It is this existence that traps the person from carving a niche for himself. He is left to assume a role that many before him had played.
The first activity of the AAA was the welcome reception for all the participants, inclusive of artists, media representatives and country organizers and sponsors. Unfortunately, there was no formal introduction done. Each one was left to his or her devices to socialize. There was however, not much occasion to do since the seating arrangement at the dinner was also done by country. Hence, the artists from one country were left talking to one another.
I had to elbow my way to talk to the artists from other countries so as to glean straight from them their own attitudes and artistic concerns surrounding their works. It was not a breeze since many of these artists needed English interpreters to make coherent what they wanted to articulate.
Even in busing the delegates in and out of Shangri-La hotel for scheduled destinations around Bangkok, the order was again by country. Informal interaction hardly happened, and if indeed the festival was to build bridges, the Bangkok experience quite failed such intention.
This was very apparent in what was billed as the artists’ interaction on the second day of the competition at the ancient fabled city of Ayutthaya, 76 kilometers north of Bangkok and declared as a world heritage site by Unesco. The usual cultural frills attended the event, i.e. elephant rides for artists.
The chosen activity, which was putting images on clay tablets, was labor intensive, if not alien to the artists. For many of the participants, it was their first time to ever handle clay as a material. Hence, they were pretty occupied with familiarizing themselves with both material and process rather than making use of the occasion to interact with one another. (The tile clays will be assembled into a giant mural to be displayed at the National Gallery in October.)
What was sorely missing in the interaction activity was the element of play, the interjection of fun to more or less break the ice, so to speak. But nothing of this sort ever happened. The only sort of interaction that ever happened among the participants in Bangkok was exchanging smiles, waving at one another, or at best, doling out business cards, if not contact numbers.
The four-day trip to Bangkok for Aguinaldo proved to be an "unforgettably great experience." The Philippine delegation, however would have wanted more time to interact and exchange ideas with artists from other countries.
Dalmacio hopes that in the future, there would be an open forum between the artists, "isama na din siguro ang mga judges."
Padilla would have wanted a more formal introduction among artists and other participants, "Kung na-introduce kami formally sa mga kasama naming Asean artists, mas fruitful siguro iyong magiging samahan naming mga artists, not only during the event but also after."
Aguinaldo also suggested one night of partying before the main event would provide the de rigueur socialization.
All told, it was a well-intended gathering of artists in the region, where each artist quietly gleaned a lesson or two. Padilla must have aired a common sentiment, when, looking back at the four short days in Bangkok, he said, "Mas nag-widen yung perspective ko, not only in my art but also my life. Yung approach ko with my art, with my following works, dapat mas global na. But my art should not compromise the real me."
For comments, send e-mail to ruben_david.defeo@up.edu.ph.
Wilson Belarmino, at 40, stood as the eldest in the group, while Don Djerassi Dalmacio and Kawayan de Guia, both 25, were the youngest. The other two artists were Vincent Paul Padilla, 28, and Leonard Aguinaldo, 37. They brought with them works that mirrored quite interestingly, if not convincingly, the catholic persuasions and attitudes informing art making in the country today.
This diversity of artistic concerns is what grand prize winner Aguinaldo probably meant when he said, "Philippine art making has the X-factor, which is the Filipino spirit." Padilla further explains it as a unique feature of the Filipino culture, a confluence of several influences, beliefs and religions. Throw in politics too.
For both Belarmino and Dalmacio, the Filipino entries as a collective did not only have "high workmanship," or uniqueness in terms of materials. More than that, they have competitive edge, what Belarmino refers to as, "angat ang trabaho natin."
Dalmacio observes that the Philippine entries "are more diversified, have wider variations and medyo trendy ang Pinoy. Mas open kasi siguro tayo sa western styles, pero andoon pa rin yung sarili nating identity."
Last week, I provided a brief description of Aguinaldo and De Guia’s works. Let me then do the same with the three works from the Philippines in competition.
Belarmino’s work Preservation of Creation is a mixed media work. It is about the responsibility of human beings to preserve Nature. The people, as stewards of God, are responsible to take good care of His creations.
Belarmino arranges cut bamboo poles vertically in a squarish pictorial format divided into four equal quadrants, presumably a signification of the four cardinal points. The bamboo is used to represent nature. He then appropriates the ancient art of tattooing, a body art practiced by indigenous groups both in the Cordillera and in the Visayas, to decorate the bamboo. Tattoo decals, available commercially in the malls, are randomly appliquéd to the bamboo surface, creating an amalgamated image of tiny flowers, fish, butterflies and other living things that otherwise would decorate the skin of contemporary youth. The message thus is clear. Conserving Nature assures humanity of a constant source of beauty.
Dalmacio’s Barren is a stark oil on canvas painting. Discriminated against, men usually regard women as sex objects. Barren may not only represent the individual woman, but also the country, the motherland being exploited.
The predominantly red composition conveys the artist’s assessment of the conditions of women – hellish and boiling.
The rendering of the woman’s face as doll-like and westernized, indexes the Filipino women being a blend of the east and west. In as much as more and more Filipino women are now career-driven, the artist opines that they should not forget their role as value generators, like unity and strength of family ties.
Through his art, the artist hopes for the audience to see the need to change the treatment being accorded women today in the Asean societies and provide more avenues for them to become productive members of the society.
Boxed In (De Kahon) by Padilla is an oil on relief canvas painting. Padilla’s painting depicts how people trap themselves in their self-made monotonous or "boxed" existence.
It is this existence that traps the person from carving a niche for himself. He is left to assume a role that many before him had played.
The first activity of the AAA was the welcome reception for all the participants, inclusive of artists, media representatives and country organizers and sponsors. Unfortunately, there was no formal introduction done. Each one was left to his or her devices to socialize. There was however, not much occasion to do since the seating arrangement at the dinner was also done by country. Hence, the artists from one country were left talking to one another.
I had to elbow my way to talk to the artists from other countries so as to glean straight from them their own attitudes and artistic concerns surrounding their works. It was not a breeze since many of these artists needed English interpreters to make coherent what they wanted to articulate.
Even in busing the delegates in and out of Shangri-La hotel for scheduled destinations around Bangkok, the order was again by country. Informal interaction hardly happened, and if indeed the festival was to build bridges, the Bangkok experience quite failed such intention.
This was very apparent in what was billed as the artists’ interaction on the second day of the competition at the ancient fabled city of Ayutthaya, 76 kilometers north of Bangkok and declared as a world heritage site by Unesco. The usual cultural frills attended the event, i.e. elephant rides for artists.
The chosen activity, which was putting images on clay tablets, was labor intensive, if not alien to the artists. For many of the participants, it was their first time to ever handle clay as a material. Hence, they were pretty occupied with familiarizing themselves with both material and process rather than making use of the occasion to interact with one another. (The tile clays will be assembled into a giant mural to be displayed at the National Gallery in October.)
What was sorely missing in the interaction activity was the element of play, the interjection of fun to more or less break the ice, so to speak. But nothing of this sort ever happened. The only sort of interaction that ever happened among the participants in Bangkok was exchanging smiles, waving at one another, or at best, doling out business cards, if not contact numbers.
The four-day trip to Bangkok for Aguinaldo proved to be an "unforgettably great experience." The Philippine delegation, however would have wanted more time to interact and exchange ideas with artists from other countries.
Dalmacio hopes that in the future, there would be an open forum between the artists, "isama na din siguro ang mga judges."
Padilla would have wanted a more formal introduction among artists and other participants, "Kung na-introduce kami formally sa mga kasama naming Asean artists, mas fruitful siguro iyong magiging samahan naming mga artists, not only during the event but also after."
Aguinaldo also suggested one night of partying before the main event would provide the de rigueur socialization.
All told, it was a well-intended gathering of artists in the region, where each artist quietly gleaned a lesson or two. Padilla must have aired a common sentiment, when, looking back at the four short days in Bangkok, he said, "Mas nag-widen yung perspective ko, not only in my art but also my life. Yung approach ko with my art, with my following works, dapat mas global na. But my art should not compromise the real me."
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