CREATING A ‘SCENE’ IN THE PHILIPPINES
One of the most over-used terms is ‘the alternative art space’. Alternative to what we might ask? Furthermore, how do we define ‘alternative’ today where a proliferation of blogs, zines and virtual spaces present the new ‘alternative’? Surely the sustained presence of the alternative space has become such a fixture of the contemporary art scene that it has become mainstream. This is the case in the Philippines.
In a country where there is no public institution committed solely to contemporary art, this alternative scene has shaped a generation of artists. It has become so ‘acceptable’ that a third of the exhibitions nominated for the Philippines prestigious Ateneo Art Awards since their inception have been drawn from ‘fringe’ venues. Just look at the 2006 line-up: Blacksoup Project Artspace with Wawi Navarroza’s photographs, Yason Banal’s digital prints at Silver Lens Gallery, and Jay Ticar and Bembol dela Cruz’s installations at Mag:net. Similarly, Big Sky Mind Artist Project Foundation (BSM) and Green Papaya Art Projects (GP) have collaborated with foreign organisations like Australia’s Asialink, The Japan Foundation and the Asian Cultural Council, and have played host to a swathe of visiting curators over the years, most recently GP’s introductions resulting in Yason Banal’s and Jose Legaspi’s inclusion in the Singapore Biennale 2006 and Nona Garcia in The 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale (2005)—endorsements that clearly legitimise their position.
One could argue that the modus operandi of these spaces—rejection of the institutional structure and art market—has indeed slipped into the same stream; alternative as ‘counter’ has been replaced by alternative as ‘extension’.
The X pedigree
Now in their second generation, these ‘Art Projects’ (the preferred Filipino term) are run by 25+ year-old artists... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline