MITING DE ABANSE 2007: AN ART EXHIBIT ON CEBU DAILY NEWS

Davao’s `Miting de Abanse’

By Roy. Lu
Cebu Daily News
Last updated 03:45pm (Mla time) 05/17/2007

IF I did not know better, I would have thought the queue was for
Spiderman 3. No, it was not. The line, made up of college kids
mostly, was for registering to get into an art exhibit. Well,
technically, to be able to join in the mock election that was part of
the opening activity for the “Miting de Abanse” exhibit.

The exhibit, running until the end of the month, is held at a bar,
Impit Purok, which had closed down at the Matina Town Square (MTS),
Davao City. It is organized by the Davao Arts Foundation, Inc. (DAFI)
and its recent offspring organization DAFI Jr.

DAFI apparently has this arrangement with MTS that has them using for
exhibit space – nominally named Dugukan – whatever space becomes
available when a tenant clears out and, conversely, has them clearing
out when a tenant moves in. So, for the previous Miting de Abanse, in
2004, the space available then was across from the space that is
being used now.

DAFI Jr. is made up of students from colleges and universities in
Davao City and they contribute the bulk of the works that make up the
exhibit. In fact, this is their inaugural project under the
curatorial guidance of senior artist Rey Bollosos.

The older DAFI seems to have done an exemplary job of guiding and
inspiring these kids whose works show a precocious maturity,
technical facility, experimental bent and thematic depth.

One notable example is the mix media work of Boboy Buenaventura. It
is a picture of the boxer-hero-turned-politician-wannabe Manny
Pacquiao. It is cut up into small pieces and pasted onto matchboxes
which are set a centimeter apart on all sides.

The picture is in sepia tone and Pacquiao is dressed in a turn-of-the-
century coat, reminiscent of those worn by Rizal, Aguinaldo and the
rest of those heroes. It has the archival feel appropriate for such
pictures.

Because of the distance between the boxes, it takes a while for the
gestalt to be complete. But as soon as that happens, there is no
mistaking the image.

It is funny. It shows how ridiculous a Congressman Pacquiao can be
and mostly because how he could even try. But then, it is also sad.
The joke seems to be on all of us.

Angela Chi is another of these young firebrands. She is a budding
performance/installation artist. More than the rest we were able to
converse longer as she helped me locate a printer and a photocopying
machine, at which my artist statement for my performance piece was
printed and multiplied.

She expressed her desire to get into art school, perhaps even at the
UP Cebu Fine Arts Program while even now finishing a course in
creative writing.

Her piece in the exhibit is the most experimental involving a live
participant, who cannot immediately be distinguished as such.
Perhaps, this is the point Chi wants to make. But making such point
is fraught with difficulties, the least of which is the general
unreadiness or inability of the audience to perceive it.

Still, if she persists, she will learn something. Along with her and
the rest of the DAFI and DAFI Jr. and the general audience as well.
If there is anything good that will come out of the elections it will
be how the artists in Davao are continuing to realize that art and
life may not be so separate after all and such separation means the
poverty of both.