05.17.07 kulturnatib

Miting de abanse

If I did not know better, I would have thought the queue was for Spiderman 3. No, it was not. The line, made up of college kids mostly, was for registering to get into an art exhibit. Well, technically, to be able to join in the mock elections that was part of the opening activity for the Miting de abanse exhibit.

The exhibit, running until the end of the month, is held at a bar, Impit Purok, that had closed down at the Matina Town Square (MTS), Davao City. It is organized by the Davao Arts Foundation, Inc. (DAFI) and its recent offspring organization DAFI Jr.

DAFI apparently has this arrangement with MTS that has them using for exhibit space – nominally named Dugukan -- whatever space becomes available when a tenant clears out and, conversely, has them clearing out when a tenant moves in. So, for the previous Miting de abanse, in 2004, the space available then was across from the space that is being used now.

DAFI Jr., is made up of students from colleges and universities in Davao City and they contribute the bulk of the works that make up the exhibit. In fact, this is their inaugural project under the curatorial guidance of senior artist Rey Bollosos.

The older DAFI seems to have done an exemplary job of guiding and inspiring these kids whose works show a precocious maturity, technical facility, experimental bent and thematic depth.

One notable example is the mix media work of Boboy Buenaventura. It is a picture of the boxer-hero turned politician-wannabe Manny Pacquiao. It is cut up into small pieces and pasted onto matchboxes which are set a centimeter apart on all sides.

The picture is in sepia tone and Pacquiao is dressed in the turn of the century coat reminiscent of those coats worn by Rizal, Aguinaldo and the rest of those heroes. It has the archival feel appropriate for such pictures.

Because of the distance between the boxes, it takes a while for the gestalt to be complete. But as soon as that happens, there is no mistaking the image.

It is funny. It shows how ridiculous a Congressman Pacquiao can be and mostly because how he could even try. But then, it is also sad. The joke seems to be on all of us.

Angela Chi is another of these young firebrands. She is a budding performance/installation artist. More than the rest we were able to converse longer as she helped me locate a printer and a photocopying machine at which my artist statement for my performance piece was printed and multiplied.

She expressed her desire to get into art school, perhaps even at the UP Cebu Fine Arts Program while even now finishing a course in creative writing.

Her piece in the exhibit is the most experimental involving a live participant, who, cannot immediately be distinguished as such. Perhaps, this is the point Chi wants to make. But, the making of such point is fraught with difficulties the least of which is the general unreadiness or inability of the audience to perceive it.

Still, if she persists, she will learn something. Along with her and the rest of the DAFI and DAFI Jr, the general audience as well.

If there is anything good that will come out of the elections it will be how the artists in Davao are continuing to realize that art and life may not be so separate after all and such separation means the poverty of both.