09.22.06 kulturnatib

Seeing as yet unseen

As I write, this giant metal bird I ride on is gliding over where the cool Arctic waters flow to the warmer Pacific.

This movement mirrors a parallel development in my immediate or current experience.

First, I am flowing (fleeing, some friend would say – and they would not be incorrect) from the chilling winds of the country that will soon be as white and cold as her Arctic neighbor to the balmer (scorching, some other friends would say – and they would not be incorrect either) climes of the equatorial Pacific.

Then, I am hurrying back from a vacation that has been laid back (as vacations should be) yet with its full share of exciting activity, including and especially artistic ones, to a vocation of art making that, by comparison, will make the upcoming ones a scorcher.

Even now as I write -- actually not long into my vacation -- thoughts of art making has never been far away and, more so now, they jostle for attention with the words that tumble into the computer screen.

A few days before my departure, Raymund Fernandez confirmed the plans. Yes, he wrote, there will be a remember Martial Law activity on the 21st. I forget the rather longish title or theme now, but it will be an activity of artists remembering Martial Law and, more importantly, saying Never Again!

At the same time, and more critically, the activity will strongly demand that the summary killings of petty criminals or said-to-be criminals in the local level and established leftist activists in the national level be stopped immediately, investigated thoroughly and punished with dispatch.

Raymund's letter said that there could be two venues, though he is sure only with one. The Outback and Kahayag Cafes' were mentioned as being the possible ones with the former's owner already committed to host.

By the time this sees print, the activity will have taken place. Exactly what that will have been will be difficult to say with any precision except where I am concerned.

My contribution to this event will be the screening of, hopefully, two videos of recent performances, though only one will have direct relevance to the theme.

This will be the 'Silence Kills' video of the performance of the same title at the University of Montreal. The other one will be the 'Bird In My Head, Song Of My Heart' performance at the Centre sur la diversite culturelle et les pratique solidaires (Cedisol) meeting in Gatineau,Quebec.

Only the more practical exigencies of having the proper screening equipment available for use remain to be resolved or secured for this. It will be both easy and difficult depending on how ready the organizers are and how determined they are to aim or settle for maximum impact.

What occupies me now, however, is the question or desire to come up with another performance.

Will I be able to do it? Will I have the time? The energy? The resources?

Yes, of course, is the desirable answer.

Writing this piece is a step of faith; of believing without seeing, of seeing through believing.

By the time you read this, you will or will not have seen something that, in the end, would have or have not been ready to be seen though no less pressing should the latter prevail.

Your faith, too, would have been as important.