1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

self-indulgence where one blithefully cu ltiva tes one's own garden , or an a rt paying submissive homage to the conventional pieties. Contemporary Filipino a rtis ts have come to term s with these issues in d ifferen t ways, styles, and approaches. One has seen the development pof an a r t of social and political awareness from its initially slogan-based and simplistic formulations in the mid-Seventies to an a r t of sophistication and visual power. A rtists have explored new formats and compositions, indigenous m a teria ls found in the environment, and a lte rna tive styles of figuration. Folk-naif styles, resisting academic canons, convey the folk subject m a tte r b e tte r in the d ifferen t aspects of the contemporary conditions, blending humor and te rro r, innocence and violence. The contents of the ir work cover a wide range of issues: the fem inist struggle within the large movement for liberation, m ilitariza tion and resistance in the countryside, ecological issues and the vision of a new human order. A rtists, such as Brenda Fajardo and Imelda Cajipe-Endaya deal with the fem inist struggle in the h istorical con tex t. In Fajardo's "Tarot Card Series", the cen tra l image often shows a group or community of women, such pas domestic helpers, oppressed and exploited, while the Taro t figures on the borders function like charac te rs who pmake humorous, sly, or ironic comments on the cen tral image, a t the same tim e th a t they rep resen t the d ifferen t contending forces and values in society th a t a ffe c t or in te ra c t with the main figures. Edgar Fernandez has taken the trad itional subject of mother-and-child and radicalized it by giving it the new iconography and symbolism of the people's struggle. His p resen t work in the show conveys the utopian vision in which the Mother and her fu tu re child preside over a fu ture tim e when weapons are turned into ploughshares. In con trast, Nunelucio Alvarado captures the violence of peasant life in the Philippines, particu larly in the sprawling haciendas of Negros Island in the Visayas where the m ilitary and landlord goons te rro rize the farm workers. Stemming from the quest for cu ltural identity is the use of indigenous m a teria ls culled from na tu re and of fam iliar cu ltural objects of the social setting . In termms of medium, this is another move away from Euro-American conventions. The p rac tice has awakened a rtis ts to the sem iotic po ten tia l of m a te ria ls-- th a t they are pnot m ere neutral vehicle for the a rt work, but th a t they en ter into the very significations of the work itse lf. The trend s ta r ted modestly in the Sixties with the incorporation of found objects from na tu re in two- or three-dimensional works and with the discovery of handmade paper made from local grasses and plants. It was Junyee and Santiago Bose who established this trend in Philippine contemporary a r t p rac tice . Junyee assembles, binds or weaves toge the r into d iffe ren t shapes a varie ty of m a teria ls like dried pods, tw isted roots, and vine stems, banana trunks, coconut shells, twigs and coconut bark. Santiago Bose, wrho has probed the conjunctures of the indigenous and colonial, has recen tly drawn inspiration from indigenous world views and expressions. His work is rep le te with folk religious symbols and allusions to the anti-colonial revolution. Another a r tis t who has consistently used indigenous m a teria ls is Roberto Villanueva who has done struc tu re s in runo grass and bamboo. His a rt seeks to claim a