Our collaboration with Fedrigoni Asia arrived a couple of weeks ago. It’s an artbook / catalogue featuring the various special papers Fedrigoni offers.
All artworks contain or feature different paper elements.
This collaboration was made possible through our friends from Fedrigoni Asia. You can visit their facebook page here. Fedrigoni papers are distributed in the Philippines by Prestige Paper Products.
I’ve been meaning to blog again for months, but life just got in the way. And as the months rolled on, it became harder and harder to get back into writing in the blog. Well, I hope I can remedy that in the coming months starting with this post, the title of which refers less about about a proclamation of self-encouragement and more about the latest adult coloring in the market.
Recent months have seen an explosion of various adult coloring books in bookstores, and so far the demand just keeps growing. Makes one wonder if everybody is THAT stressed. Hue Can Do It is Summit Books’s entry into the adult coloring book category. It comes in two volumes and features works from over 40 Filipino artists.
The books were launched last August 29, 2015 at The Philippine Literary Festival organized by National Book Store and held at Raffles Makati. Here’s video coverage of the event I found on the internet by Moki Magpantay.
Artists included in the two volumes are Abi Dayacap, Abi Goy, Abi Montana, Alysse Asilo, Angela Taguiang, Apol Sta. Maria, Ariel Santillan, Asa Montenejo, Blic Pinas, Brent Sabas, Camille Chua, Camz Dagal, Clare Magno, Domz Agsaway, Electrolychee, Epjey Pacheco, Fran Alvarez, Frank Perez, Gica Tam, Harry Monzon, Isa Natividad, Jamie Bauza, Jap Mikel, Jaykee Evangelista, JP Cuison, Kay Aranzanso, Koi Carreon, Liza Flores, Manix Abrera, Mawee Borromeo, Mika Bacani, Nelz Yumul, Nicole Lim, Paul Eric Roca, Paulo Correa, Pergy Acuña, Raine Sarmiento, Ray Sunga, Reg Silva, Robx Bautista, Rommel Joson, Sergio Bumatay III, Tasha Rye, and Wiji Lacsamana.
The books were designed by Studio Dialogo with covers by Asa Montenejo. Visit Studio Dialogo’s facebook page at http://facebook.com/studiodialogo.
Each Hue Can Do It book is PhP 295 and can be bought at National Bookstore, Fully Booked, Powerbooks, Mini-Stop and 7-11 convenience stores, and Robinsons and SM Department Stores and supermarkets. Visit Summit Books here or Summit Media at their facebook page at http://facebook.com/summitmediaph.
I bought the Vestiges of War for 20% off at the recently concluded Manila International Book Fair. Clocking in at 500 pages, it includes visual and critical essays, photographs, plays, poetry, and artwork addressing Philippine-U.S. relations. Very substantial work and worth checking out.
Anyway, the rest of the world is probably unaware that the Philippines was once a colony of the United States of America. During the tail end of the Philippine Revolution of 1898, Spain essentially sold the Philippines (along with other Spanish controlled territories) to the United States via the Treaty of Paris (1898). The Spanish, unwilling to surrender to Filipino forces, entered into a face-saving mock battle with the Americans (see: 1898 Battle of Manila). From being a colony of Spain, we became a colony of the United States.
In the early 1900s, war between the Philippines and the US broke out. American textbooks labelled the conflict as the “Philippine insurrection”. Obviously, the Philippines didn’t win that conflict and so we were America’s “little brown brothers” for the next couple of decades until self-rule was given after World War II.
Now, the Philippines still lives under the shadow of American influence. It seems that we “love” all things American. Our form of government, our educational system, what side of the road we drive in, and our fanaticism with basketball all came from the US of A.
I recently had a conversation with a friend about what it means to be a Filipino artist and we had no easy answers. This country has been taken over by foreign powers three times in its history (four if you count the brief spell the British spent in the 1700s). Sometimes I think we seem to drown in our influences. Our native tongues choke on borrowed words and ideas. How can we make these influences truly ours? Like I said, no easy answers.
But what is clear is that we must dig deeper into our collective memories. As artists, we have a responsibility to figure out where our art-making lies within the greater context of our culture and history. It doesn’t matter if we make art for social awareness or commercial gain. I think we have to make an effort to understand where our practice lies in the context of those that came before us.
“Inscape” / 12 x 12 in., oil on canvas
Hey Oso! 