A piece of Venice Biennale’s PHL Pavilion comes home to Manila

ARTIST Manuel Ocampo stands next to one of his pieces during the opening of the restaged The Spectre of Comparison exhibit at MCAD.

A PART of the exhibit which made up the Philippine Pavilion at the 57th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in Venice, Italy, can now be seen in Manila, at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), where it is on view until July 20.

The Spectre of Comparison features the works of two Filipino artists, Lani Maestro and Manuel Ocampo. The exhibit was inspired by the Spanish line “el demonio de las comparaciones (the demon of comparisons),” from the revolutionary novel Noli Me Tangere by the National Hero Jose Rizal, which summarized the experience of the novelist’s protagonist, Crisostomo Ibarra, as he gazed at the Botanical Garden of Manila while simultaneously fondly remembering the gardens of Europe.

The exhibit delves on the tainted viewpoints when one cannot help but juxtapose two different geographical areas.

Though both Maestro and Ocampo have resided abroad for years, they have maintained active personal engagements with the Philippines throughout their careers.

MCAD Director Joselina “Yeyey” Cruz, curator of this particular exhibit, said that mounting the exhibition is a big challenge. “It’s difficult to bring a whole exhibition to a different place and expect it to be the same when the venue and the context has hanged. Still, the team did its best to recreate an experience close to the original.”

The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design is located at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts (SDA) Campus, Dominga St., Malate, Manila.