The Tam-awan Village in Baguio is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a four-part art exhibit road show (“Two Decades of Unwavering Passion for Culture and the Arts”) participated in by over a hundred visual artists.
The touring exhibit is now at the high-end Bellevue Manila hotel in Alabang, Muntinlupa. The show is running until Aug. 3 (call 7718181).
On view are the top 55 works selected from the first three phases of the road show. There are acrylics, oils, mixed-media works, sculptures along with experimental works using sand, soil, threads, wire, hair and digital art. We have works of protest and paintings celebrating the beauty of tribal women, fully clothed or un-clothed.
Young Igorot dancers and musicians, four pairs of braves and maidens, enlivened the recent opening.
“Boracay,” by Don Reich de Dios in mixed media depicts the famed tourist spot in stark terms, figurative as well as abstract, in brown and dark blue colors. Bathers are rendered like creatures from a sci-fi movie.
“Hubris,” by Luisa Galang (terra cota, mixed media) looks almost like a snake pit, with the figures wrapped in serpentine coils. “Sa Mata ng Isang Kokote,” by Tyrone Baricuatro (epoxy nonsag on canvas) shows an eye surrounded by a whirlpool of beads and lines.
In “Sun God,” by Edwin Macadaeg (textile ink and sand art), we have the figures of the tribal gods in a maze of warm and dark colors. “Soul Dimension,” by Dianelee Denis (mixed media) shows a female beauty who is almost like a ghostly apparition.
Protest art
“Bakwit” in oil and canvas (“gggyeraaa”) is a protest against the war in the Islamic City of Marawi, with the faces of the Maranao victims staring at the viewers.
One of the few cheerful works is “Fruit Vendor,” by Ysa Gernale. A young girl vendor smiles amidst a festive background of orange skies, nipa huts, palm trees and white birds in formation.
“Usok” (acrylic on canvas) by Prince Angelo Logan is another work of protest, but this time against the dangers of smoking. A woman is blinded by a haze of smoke emanating from her lighted cigarette.
“Igorot,” by Mark Tandayog shows a news photo of the late rebel priest Conrado Balweg emblazoned by the slogans Igorot. Resistance. Respect.
Artists said the legacy of Tam-awan was one of fusion, of unity, helping one another grow and “to appreciate what is in the mountains.”
As the program host put it, the artists came here “to make the world a better place.” –CONTRIBUTED