VENICE, Italy—The Philippine pavilion of the 56th International Art Exhibition or La Biennale di Venezia happening here until November is now on two lists of must-see national pavilions not to be missed by both critics and art lovers.
Sen. Loren Legarda told Manila-based reporters that arts auction house Christie’s and the UK-based a-n The Artists Information Company, a group that supports contemporary visual arts in Europe, have both singled out the Philippine pavilion housed in Palazzo Mora, a historic building owned in succession by prominent Italian families in centuries past.
The Christie’s-The Art People website called the Philippine exhibit “a poetic and political reflection on the history of world making, the links between geography and politics, and the notions of nation, territory and archipelago.”
The quote was actually lifted from a statement made by Patrick Flores, professor of art history, theory and criticism at the University of the Philippines Diliman, who was chosen as art curator of the Philippine pavilion by a group of Filipino and foreign jurors last September.
5 decades ago
Christie’s noted that it has been five decades since the Philippines last took part in a Venice Biennale.
It referred to 1964 when the Art Association of the Philippines pooled private funds to send multimedia artist and painter Jose Joya and sculptor Napoleon V. Abueva to Venice.
It was American artist Robert Rauschenberg who took home the Gran Premio then for a Pop Art entry.
Flores conceptualized the theme “Tie A String Around the World,” a title taken from the 1950’s Filipino movie “Genghis Khan,” directed by Manuel Conde and cowritten by Carlos “Botong” Francisco who would later be declared national artist.
Francisco also played a key role in the production design of the movie that played and received mixed reviews in the 1962 Venice Film Festival.
Haunting statement
Flores tied Conde’s film with the current works of intermedia artist Jose Tence Ruiz and filmmaker Mariano Montelibano III that resulted in a haunting statement about the country’s territory, patrimony, national identity and culture.
Ruiz’s velvet-clad sculpture “Shoal” alludes to the World War II vintage warship BRP Sierra Madre currently stranded at Ayungin Shoal of the West Philippine Sea—a gallant, albeit puny assertion of the country’s claim to several islands in the area.
Montelibano’s 20-minute film “A Dashed State” is an abruptly edited commentary on the seemingly peaceful life of locals in a coastal barangay in southern Palawan.
The film’s audio is constantly interrupted by incursions of Chinese radio signals as if to warn the viewer of unseen threats on the residents.
Other countries cited by Christie’s are Australia, Italy, Iraq, Latin America, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States.
The national pavilions of these countries are houses either in the Arsenale or Giardini districts of Venice.
Legarda identified London-based artist and curator Pippa Koszerek as the one who explained the Philippine pavilion’s inclusion in the list for a-n, the UK-based nonprofit organization supporting the arts in Europe.
Three generations
Koszerek took note of the Philippines’ comeback after a 51-year hiatus, but said “the exhibition spans this gap, bringing together three generations of practitioners.”
Citing the works of Conde and Francisco as well as the more current ones of Ruiz and Montelibano, Koszerek said the Philippine entry effectively discussed “socioeconomic issues of sea nations, global politics and the volatility of borders through installation and film, respectively.”
Other pavilions cited by a-n include those of Armenia; the British Pavilion in Giardini; Chile; the Dutch Pavilion in Arsenale; the National Pavilion of Iceland; Ireland; New Zealand; Ukraine; and the United States.
Flores’ proposal was picked from 16 entries by a group of jurors composed of Mami Kataoka, chief curator of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo; Paul Pfeiffer, a New York-based multimedia artist; Renaud Proch, executive director of Independent Curators International; Filipino art critic Cid Reyes; chair Felipe de Leon, Jr. of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts; and Legarda.
There are 88 countries participating in this year’s biennale. While the works in the Philippine pavilion comprise the official entry, there are also Filipino artists exhibiting in other venues in Venice.
Listed in Il Giornale dell’Arte, considered the guide to the 2015 biennale, are Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, whose works are housed in Palazzo Grimani.
“Our return to the Venice Biennale after 51 years of absence is a great achievement already and for the Philippine Pavilion to be regarded as a must-see pavilion is very rewarding. It makes me even prouder of our artists,” said Legarda, principal advocate of the Philippine Art Venice Biennale project.
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