Art and Design Manila

Before leaving for the Philippines, our predecessor interns had given us a significant list of people they had met, and that it would be in our interest to see. We had decided to spend five days in Manila thinking that this would be enough time. Being jet lagged, utterly exhausted from scrambling the previous week preparing to leave, and taking time to learn how to get around here, we ended up not seeing nearly everything that we should have. We wanted to look at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Design Center, not to mention a couple of other museums, but there was only so much we could squeeze in.

We met Boots Herrera, a friend and contact of Sam Carter, one of the co-op instructors, who has been involved in Asian design for many years. Boots is an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City, who teaches Art History. Jon and Alex, the two other interns from Emily Carr Institute who I came over with, and I met Boots at the Alliance Francaise de Manila, for the book signing of a local anthropoligist (all about the rates of suicide in southern Palawan-feel good stuff). Boots introduced us to a few contemporaries, and was then kind enough to take us to a couple of galleries at a an outdoor shopping complex called Fort Bonifacio. This area was pattered after European high streets, with a lot of typical high street shops running the length of a central courtyard, dotted with fountains, benches and public sculpture, a la the west.

One gallery held an exhibit of contemporary painting and sculpture by a community of local artists. It was interesting to see that the art scene, no matter how marginal here, reflected very much the kind of work and thinking that can be seen at home. We also attended a small opening at a different gallery in the same complex showcasing paintings that were created as illustrations for a childrens book authored by a professor from the University of Toronto. We didn't get to spend much time with Boots, but it was wonderful to meet her as she is very dynamic and well connected.

We returned the following night to the first gallery where the closing of the show was taking place. We made some contacts and had the opportunity to speak to many of the artists whose works were on show. We were then invited to another show opening in an area of Quezon City called Cubao X. Here we discovered a community of local artists, musicians and shop keepers, who frequented each other's businesses and made up a beautiful little collective. The gallery showed the works of a couple of local graphic artists, and we discovered beautiful t-shirts and other products by a couple of young Manila graphic design agencies. A couple of great local bands played, we ate at the cafe of one of the locals with their friends' comic store next door. We also had the priveledge of having a shop opened up for us, which housed a beautiful collection of pop culture memorabila, including old cameras, mannequins, and a collection of hand made articles including beatifully designed clocks, hand cut and painted wooden typefaces, and movie clapper boards that were sold as local souveniers. Although this side of young Manila, is steeped in the pop culture of the west, there was somthing here that was much more about the community, that seems somewhat lacking where we are from. (see more photos)