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New Exhibit at the MET will make you look closer at Manila
Sometimes, you don’t have to look beyond the visible to find what you’re looking for. This seems to be the theme behind a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila entitled "Manila: Hidden in Plain Sight."
“What we wanted to tackle was based on the idea of memory and what is fading and what is changing in Manila,” said Desi Tolentino, curator of the exhibit, which combines the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s painting collection with the works of contemporary artists.
The museum’s latest exhibit, which opened last Thursday, examines “the memory of the city framed in the conditions of a changing urban landscape and culture,” according to the release from the museum. “Unraveling Manila requires a glimpse on the movements of its dwellers that drove to pattern the flows of spaces all around them.”
“I think the whole (exhibit) is really to reveal a facet of Manila that we often overlook,” said BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla, who was the guest of honor at the opening. “It’s a reminder to us of what’s going on around us, to be sensitive to our environment in terms of the people, and how they live that we can’t ignore.”
The exhibit draws from the BSP’s treasure trove of priceless artworks, including pieces from E. Aguilar Cruz, Antipas Delotavo, Alfredo Liongoren, Ofelia Gelvezon Tequi and Norberto Roldan. The paintings provide a snapshot of Manila as it was in the 1920s to as recently as the 1960s and 1970s.
Meanwhile, eight contemporary artists were also invited to participate in the traveling leg of the exhibit, providing their own unique points of view about their beloved Manila.
Cocoy Lumbao, Tad Ermitaño, Manix Abrera, Dina Gadia, Leeroy New, Issay Rodriguez, Denise Weldon and MM Yu contributed a variety of themes and media —video, photography, sculpture, prints and collage — but they all “highlight the visages of Manila that we are accustomed to: the crude dwellings of informal settlers, the sense of impermanencedue to the city’s constant restructuring, and the perpetuating condition of the Pasig River as the city’s major waterway.”
Says comic artist Abrera, who attended “They emailed me about the exhibit, and they asked if I would be willing na magbigay ng artwork na babagay sa theme nila. Na-excite ako. Nakakatuwa na na-invite ako, kasi alam nila na comics yung ginagawa ko.” Abrera publishes his comics on GMA News Online.
Abrera’s submissions to the exhibit include two comic strips. “Yung isa tungkol sa stress sa work, pero may humor. Yung isa yung tinotour niya yung mga turista ini-explain niya yung mythological creatures dito sa Pilipinas.”
The Met said the works present playful and stylized characters that “use wit and banter expressed through street-smart discourse and mundane observations of living in Manila.”
New, who was also at the launch, said he submitted an existing work that he felt went well as a subject of the theme of the exhibit. The Bakawan Floating Island Project symbolizes the symbiotic relationship of the river with the community. A video projection documenting the work as well as a scale model of the actual floating island were presented at the exhibit.
“It’s a long-term project, one of the many first phases of the work,” New said. “We organized mural paintings along the river so the idea is to draw more attention to it through art and design strategies, with the hopes of getting people more aware of the river, take the ferries more, be more concerned about the Pasig River’s well-being.”
Both Abrera and New say there is much more to Manila than meets the eye, and invited people to take a closer look.
“Pag sinabing Manila, sa 'kin, feeling ko yung unang iniisip yung pollution, yung gulo,” Abrera said. “Pero after nun, ang lalim ng history niya. Andaming pinaniniwalaan. Tapos yung kinoncentrate sa pieces na gusto kong ipakita, kahit napaka stressful dito, merong humor parati. Pag nilalabas mo, matatawa ka, pero mapapaisip ka rin, oo nga no, bakit ba ganyan. Feeling ko kitang-kita yun dito sa Manila.”
“Manila needs a lot of help,” New said. “It’s a one big design problem. It’s also a human problem, all these issues that needs addressing, it’s how humans interact with each other in their city. It’s one big challenge for designers and artists and creatives, to actually live around and exist and do our work in Manila.”
Manila: Hidden in Plain Sight is on view at the Galeriya Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, White Cube Gallery and Open Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila until August 26, 2017, after which it will travel to three schools in Manila (Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Universidad de Manila, and Manila High School) in September and October. — LA, GMA News
