SOUTHERN TRI-LOGY
BACOL
BALCOS &
FLOIRENDO
Cu r a t e d b y Cr i s Ro l l o
O P E N FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2011
E N D SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2011
“While the stories are rooted in the South, the artistic expression bravely faced universal themes of communication challenges, social ventilation and childhood’s innocent joys amidst deprivation.”
World economies have been generally divided into the developed North (Europe, North America, Japan, etc.) and the developing South (South America, South and South-East Asia, Africa, etc.). Thus, in the development world, North-South collaboration is promoted as a way for the developed countries to help developing countries through technical cooperation and grants. South-South cooperation, on the other hand, is advocated as a sort of self-help among developing economies to learn from each other and gain collective strength to negotiate on issues that developed countries are not comfortable with like climate change mitigation, fair trade and nuclear arms control. Even in the art world, the Havana Biennale has been the platform for artistic exchange among artists from the developing world as opposed to the “Northern-dominated” Venice and Documenta events.
This global dichotomy appears to be mirrored in the Philippine setting. The neglected “South” (which include Mindanao and parts of the Visayas) seems to be marginalized from the favored “North” (which includes most of Luzon particularly Metro Manila and CALABARZON). Although this exhibition asserts that this dichotomy is artificial because artmaking transcends imagined territorial boundaries, the geographic circumstance of the three artists having come from and practicing in the same city of Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao bonds them in creative collaboration. Although South pertains to their locus of practice, it is certainly did not constrain them to a parochial domain of artistic consciousness. While the stories are rooted in the South, the artistic expression bravely faced universal themes of communication challenges, childhood’s innocent joys amidst deprivation and social ventilation. The stories shared through the works,
subtly hinting at the north-south dichotomy, could only come from a southern experience.
“Tri” refers to the three artists in this exhibition who traveled different journeys of coming to grips with their artistic practice. Michael studied architectural drafting in the Mindanao Polytechnic State College (now Mindanao University). Errol learned through self-study with a passionate focus on perfecting his craft. Oscar Floirendo graduated from the University of the Philippines with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. There 3 modes of learning art (“-Logy” or “the study of”) result in different “kinds of speaking or writing or artmaking”. All the three artists have been finalists and/or winners of the Philippine Art Awards and other art competitions. This exhibit offers three different perspectives, different stories, different artistic expressions from the same southern spring.
CURATOR
CRIS ROLLO is a visual artist and writer. He currently works in urban development and for disadvantaged communities as the Officerin-Charge and Knowledge Manager of the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT) - Philippines. As cultural worker, he was Chairman of the Committee on Visual Arts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (2002-2007) and Deputy Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (2005-2007).
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