“THE START OF SOMETHING NEW (BAGO)”
By Jonathan Sy
President, Bonafide Art Galleries Organization
When I was thirteen, at the ultra-conservative St. Jude Catholic School, we wanted to do something new, something revolutionary, something earth-shaking. We ended up forming a gang called, unbelievably, the New Nazis (no relation to the ultra-rightist group). Our goal was to overthrow the existing crop of academically gifted but boring leaders of our batch and replace them with dynamic leaders of our own. I wrote a paper convincing classmates to shun the present line of officers and elect our suggested set. Upon headcount, we found only 7 out of the total 120 in our batch sympathetic to our cause. So we decided to trash the whole idea and just play and have fun together as a group instead. We turned out to be more successful on this track producing some of the most exciting, colorful and unforgettable days of our early teens.
Fast forward to November of 2007, I got a call from my old friend, the late Sid Hildawa, poet and visual artist who also happened to be the Director for Visual Arts at the Cultural center of the Philippines as well as the Chairman of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts National Committee on Art Galleries. “Jon, very few people are attending the meetings here at the NCCA. Why don’t ou invite your gallery-owner friends and ask them to attend our meetings? Who knows, you might even come up with a good project that we could possibly fund.” Here was a man I deeply respected whom I hadn’t spoke to for a decade suddenly asking me to participate in something significant for the visual arts. How could I say no? so with that one call, I was thirteen once more.
I reached out t6o everyone In knew in the business and started talking frantically about doing an exhibit together as one group in what many people thought was a very fragmented art scene. I suggested we do this for the sake of unity, and was pleasantly surprised when this was welcomed by many. I have to come up with a distinct name for an association of art galleries that members could be proud of. Something with a good recall but at the same time simple, meaningful, and yet striking. Something that would boldly speak of the group’s intentions. I quickly realized that, although calling it the New Nazis was obviously out of the question, the word “new” had a great ring and promise to it. That’s when the word BAGO came in – Bonafide Art Galleries Association. Wow, it sounded like a dream come true! Not too shabby if I should say so myself. So by September 2008 we first opened the first ever joint exhibition of 22 art galleries entitled “BAGO State of Art” Show at the SM Megamall Art Center. The reception was tremendous. It was the first time I saw more than 500 people at a single art opening. It inspired me to push through with an ever bigger exhibition no matter what.
One month later, we submitted a project proposal to the NCCA for ManilArt 09 which was to be the 1st Philippine International Art Fair (ManilArt). Thankfully the Committee on Art Galleries headed by Lyn Yusi of Galerie Y with her panel of members, most notably Amy Loste of Gallery Nine, Noli Romero of Renaissance, Monette Alvarez then of Gallery Genesis and Jack Teotico of Galerie Joaquin, all lobbied in favor of BAGO getting a grant to organize and put up ManilArt. And that’s exactly what BAGO did. Last year, ManilArt 09 was held at the NBC Tent and turned out to be the biggest art event in Philippine history where 40 art galleries joined hands in showcasing their best exhibition, 300 artists where represented, 500 artworks were displayed and 5,000 visitors flocked to witness the country’s first ever international art fair.
Sadly, Sid Hildawa passed away in March of 2008 and didn’t get the chance to see, much less get involved in, ManilArt. He would have made it ten times better. But the seed he planted in me and the rest of BAGO continues to grow. Today, ManilArt is double of what it was last year and I am confident that it will keep on growing exponentially if only we remember, despite all the inherent troubles of organizing such a huge event, to just have fun along the way in our short lives as custodians of Philippine visual arts.
By Jonathan Sy
President, Bonafide Art Galleries Organization
When I was thirteen, at the ultra-conservative St. Jude Catholic School, we wanted to do something new, something revolutionary, something earth-shaking. We ended up forming a gang called, unbelievably, the New Nazis (no relation to the ultra-rightist group). Our goal was to overthrow the existing crop of academically gifted but boring leaders of our batch and replace them with dynamic leaders of our own. I wrote a paper convincing classmates to shun the present line of officers and elect our suggested set. Upon headcount, we found only 7 out of the total 120 in our batch sympathetic to our cause. So we decided to trash the whole idea and just play and have fun together as a group instead. We turned out to be more successful on this track producing some of the most exciting, colorful and unforgettable days of our early teens.
Fast forward to November of 2007, I got a call from my old friend, the late Sid Hildawa, poet and visual artist who also happened to be the Director for Visual Arts at the Cultural center of the Philippines as well as the Chairman of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts National Committee on Art Galleries. “Jon, very few people are attending the meetings here at the NCCA. Why don’t ou invite your gallery-owner friends and ask them to attend our meetings? Who knows, you might even come up with a good project that we could possibly fund.” Here was a man I deeply respected whom I hadn’t spoke to for a decade suddenly asking me to participate in something significant for the visual arts. How could I say no? so with that one call, I was thirteen once more.
I reached out t6o everyone In knew in the business and started talking frantically about doing an exhibit together as one group in what many people thought was a very fragmented art scene. I suggested we do this for the sake of unity, and was pleasantly surprised when this was welcomed by many. I have to come up with a distinct name for an association of art galleries that members could be proud of. Something with a good recall but at the same time simple, meaningful, and yet striking. Something that would boldly speak of the group’s intentions. I quickly realized that, although calling it the New Nazis was obviously out of the question, the word “new” had a great ring and promise to it. That’s when the word BAGO came in – Bonafide Art Galleries Association. Wow, it sounded like a dream come true! Not too shabby if I should say so myself. So by September 2008 we first opened the first ever joint exhibition of 22 art galleries entitled “BAGO State of Art” Show at the SM Megamall Art Center. The reception was tremendous. It was the first time I saw more than 500 people at a single art opening. It inspired me to push through with an ever bigger exhibition no matter what.
One month later, we submitted a project proposal to the NCCA for ManilArt 09 which was to be the 1st Philippine International Art Fair (ManilArt). Thankfully the Committee on Art Galleries headed by Lyn Yusi of Galerie Y with her panel of members, most notably Amy Loste of Gallery Nine, Noli Romero of Renaissance, Monette Alvarez then of Gallery Genesis and Jack Teotico of Galerie Joaquin, all lobbied in favor of BAGO getting a grant to organize and put up ManilArt. And that’s exactly what BAGO did. Last year, ManilArt 09 was held at the NBC Tent and turned out to be the biggest art event in Philippine history where 40 art galleries joined hands in showcasing their best exhibition, 300 artists where represented, 500 artworks were displayed and 5,000 visitors flocked to witness the country’s first ever international art fair.
Sadly, Sid Hildawa passed away in March of 2008 and didn’t get the chance to see, much less get involved in, ManilArt. He would have made it ten times better. But the seed he planted in me and the rest of BAGO continues to grow. Today, ManilArt is double of what it was last year and I am confident that it will keep on growing exponentially if only we remember, despite all the inherent troubles of organizing such a huge event, to just have fun along the way in our short lives as custodians of Philippine visual arts.
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