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An exploration of Baguio art now in Metro Manila

THE SOUND of gongs and the smell of smoke herald the beginning of ritual sacrifices in the Cordillera region. When the chicken is killed, its blood spills onto the ground, the culmination of paying tribute to the spirits and a joyous celebration of the earth.

This very scene is where the latest exhibition at the Ateneo Art Gallery, Gongs. Smoke. Blood. Earth., takes its name. It is a show that serves as an exploration or survey of Baguio art.

Aside from presenting works by the current zeitgeist of Baguio-based artists, it delves into their history and cultural context, dating back to the founding of the Baguio Arts Guild in 1986.

The exhibit is an extension of the book Tiw-tiwong: an Uncyclopedia to Life, Living, and Art, in Baguio, the Cordilleras and Beyond, published by Baguio Kunst Publishing in 2023.

For one of its main proponents, artist Kawayan de Guia, the book’s aim is to chart the relationship between indigenous communities and the artists, whether schooled or unschooled. The exhibition brings these connections to life at the Ateneo Art Gallery.

“There has never actually been a Baguio show in Manila, in a museum, ever. There have been a lot of exhibits of certain individuals in galleries, but there hasn’t been anything that sort of encapsulates a holistic view of Baguio,” he told the press at a preview on April 5.

“I don’t know if it’s a Manila-centric thing. Well, everyone wants to go to Baguio, so why bring the works down? There was no reason to do that because everyone just comes up,” he said.

A highlight in this exhibition of Baguio art is a recreation of Santiago Bose’s installation Bamboo Radar, which greets visitors at the lawn of Ateneo’s Arete building, which houses the gallery.

Mr. De Guia’s father, National Artist Kidlat Tahimik, also contributed an “unconscious curation” of wood carvings, bulul figures, and sculptures that he had picked up over the years.

“Back in ’86, with the guild, our appreciation for precolonial art had begun to seep in among the younger artists. I think now, we have people who are grounded in Cordilleran art. There was really a transition back then. It used to be exotic for some of us to play with our ancestral art, but I think it’s become full-blooded and grounded, coming out naturally with our expression,” he said.

Ateneo Art Gallery director Victoria “Boots” Herrera added that the exhibit tries to understand “the essentials of what Baguio art is, its history, the works, and where it’s heading.” The exhibit includes works of founding members of the guild: National Artist Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera, photographer Tommy Hafalla, Rene Aquitania, Willy Magtibay, and Perry Mamaril.

“We have a lot of work from artists that have passed, but have really defined the ‘Baguio art style.’ [The show is] trying to understand the aesthetics of it,” Ms. Herrera said.

The exhibit also branches out to include contemporary Baguio-based artists like Katrin de Guia, Carlo Villafuerte, John Frank Sabado, Rocky Cajigan, Nona Garcia, Leonard Aguinaldo, Dehon Taguyungon, Gail Vicente, Randy Gawwi, Abbie SJ Lara, Bong Sanchez, Irene Bawer Bimuyag, and Rogelio Guinannoy.

For Baguio Arts Guild founding member Mr. Magtibay, the show presents a wellspring of “art reflecting the soul of the region.” His installation of the native dalikan (stove) is one that he considers both cultural and personal.

“The hearth is where life happens. It’s where you cook your food. Several times I’ve witnessed indigenous people perform rituals in front of the dalikan. It’s a sacred place where you seek comfort on stormy nights when it’s raining. For me, it’s my place of refuge,” he said.

Relative newcomer Ms. Vicente, an outsider who moved to Baguio to pursue art, hopes to tap into this wellspring. She leads the recreation of the late Roberto Villanueva’s Earth Song installation, made from handkerchiefs, scarves, towels, and fabrics representing motherhood.

Mr. De Guia, who co-curated the exhibit along with Nona Garcia, explained that Ms. Vicente’s initiative was welcome given the “ephemeral nature” of the installation, first put up in the 1990s. “Robert believed that art is of the moment, and that the involvement of the community is all-encompassing. That was the trademark and a big element in the equation of Baguio art. But we couldn’t figure out how to represent him here, since his work is long gone.”

The revival of the project can be seen within the halls of the gallery, among other Baguio art. Guests who visit the show throughout its run are encouraged to contribute fabrics to the piece.

As part of the exhibit, there will be screenings of Baguio-centered films by Kidlat Tahimik, Egay Navarro, Rica Concepcion, Kidlat de Guia, Abbie SJ Lara, Mervine Aquino, Ruben Domingo, and Angel Velasco Shaw. A mosaic workshop by Kabunyan de Guia, Olie Olivete, and Guiler Lagac of The Mighty Bhutens will be held at a later date, still to be announced.

“I can’t say where Baguio art is going, but I think there’s a very healthy momentum now,” Kidlat Tahimik said. “The young people are naturally thirsty for what was once considered shameful, primitive, uncivilized art. We’ve at least been able to pull the brakes on that kind of thinking.”

Gongs. Smoke. Blood. Earth. is on view until July 20 at the Ateneo Art Gallery at the Arete building in Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Ave., Quezon City. — Brontë H. Lacsamana

By Brontë H. Lacsamana, Reporter

Theater Review
Mga Anak ng Unos
Presented by Dulaang UP

THE LATEST twin-bill production by Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (Dulaang UP), Mga Anak ng Unos, can be best described as a horrific funhouse mirror reflecting the worsening realities of the climate crisis.

The first piece assumes the intriguing lens of folklore, where otherworldly creatures fight against humanity’s self-destructive tendencies. The second presents scenes that are frenetic, fragmented reimaginings of our current and possible future states of distress. Campus theater group Dulaang UP brings both to life with a stark sense of urgency.

GODS AND CREATURES
Sa Gitna ng Digmaan ng mga Mahiwagang Nilalang Laban sa Sangkatauhan is written by Joshua Lim So, a playwright in the Carlos Palanca Award for Literature Hall of Fame. Under the direction of José Estrella, the war that bathalas (gods) and mythological creatures wage against the sangkatauhan (humanity) unfolds on stage.

Immediately striking is the diversity of languages spoken by the deities, based on the regions from which their folk tales originate. The stage design is clever, with frayed ropes coiled into a gigantic mass on one side representing a mountain being destroyed by miners.

The costumes are also beautiful to look at, the bathalas, diwatas, aswangs, and the like each standing out as their own character. It begins with Dadanhayan Ha Sugay (played by Jasper John), a supreme being with 10 heads originating from Bukidnon folklore. Nicknamed Dan by his fellow mythological creatures, he is an intimidating figure who punishes mankind with thunder and torrential rainfall, much to the chagrin of Tausug-based trickster deity Abunnawas (Tristan Bite), who advocates for a tamaraw stuck in the ensuing landslide.

From then on out, the piece keeps adding on its innovative worldbuilding, the various creatures that Filipinos read about converging in an uncanny military alliance in the war on mankind. Based on Edgar Samar’s book Mga Nilalang na Kagila-gilalas, a compendium of mythological creatures drawing from folklore all over the country, the play puts the divine creatures in a tight spot where they are pushed to the brink. The entire exercise successfully leaves the audience with the sobering message that perhaps the destruction has gone too far.

Of course, the downside to having diverse dialogue using various Philippine languages is the audience’s inability to follow the whole thing completely, for lack of subtitles to the languages we don’t know. But the actors fill in this gap very easily, their expressions, tone of voice, and body language providing the context for what they’re probably saying in the moment.

There are humorous scenes as well, such as when one aswang declares that she has gone vegan and refuses to feast on the blood of a human. There are popularity dynamics at play, with the overbearing nuno sa punso reveling in being the most recognizable creature, and the humble anito being almost unknown. When not overwhelming in parts, the play at least manages to be amusing.

From the moment the tamaraw is stuck in the muddy ditch and seemingly doomed, the audience is immersed in an intriguing aspect of Philippine folklore that other tales haven’t really tackled — how humans’ effect on the environment ripples throughout the archipelago in ways unimagined.

HUMAN RESPONSES
The next play, Climate Crazies, is a feverish reckoning of what’s to come. From the local, it expands to the global experience of the climate crisis. The play is directed by Issa Manalo Lopez and Tess Jamias.

Based on Australian playwright David Finnigan’s Scenes from the Climate Era, it transposes the original text into the Filipino perspective of the crisis, tackled with a healthy mix of dread and playfulness. Vignettes take us through a plethora of realistic issues: plastic pollution, rising sea levels, the overconsumption of goods, and deadly super-typhoons.

Here, the audience is compelled to nod or shake their heads out of relatability, often in frustration over segregating or processing the trauma of individual actions being basically useless. Many voices are heard here — brought to life by the four extremely versatile main actors: Delphine Buencamino, Bong Cabrera, Herbie Go, and Ethan King — characters ranging from educated citizens and everyday people to climate scientists and uncaring celebrities. Their ability to take on all these perspectives throughout the barrage of vignettes is mind-blowing, to say the least.

One character says that the term “climate anxiety,” denoting an exaggerated worry over something, must instead be named “climate distress,” because it is unfair to claim that the dire situation is exaggerated at all. Later on, in a scene mimicking a TV program, a scientist bemoans how false hope chains people to the system. This is all grounded in harrowing scenes of the earth’s future, like a mother shielding her child from the deadly heat to a young man scrambling to get his elderly wheelchair-bound grandmother evacuated from the flood.

Tying the second play with the first is a Bagobo mythological character, Mebuyan (played by MJ Briones), a goddess with multiple breasts used to feed infants who have died. Here, adorned in trash bags, she flits in and out of the various vignettes, the only consistent character all throughout, embodying the decay that has befallen the earth. She is depicted as drawing unlucky numbers for humans who will perish from climate crises and feeding on her breasts are both human babies and turtles who have died consuming plastics in the ocean. 

Befitting the craziness promised by the title, the play is full of energy, from hilarious slapstick moments to more solemn and thought-provoking speeches. There are earth summits where world leaders struggle to enact policy, and average people eat a never-ending slew of takeout, or order products upon products online. In short, it’s a rollercoaster of emotions, and ultimately a rousing call to action.

Mga Anak ng Unos has shows on Fridays to Sundays until April 13 at the IBG-KAL Theater in UP Diliman, Quezon City. Regular tickets cost P1,000 while persons with disabilities and senior citizens can buy tickets for P800, all available via Ticket2Me. For more details, visit Dulaang UP’s social media pages.