MANILA
2006
Although I have family and friends in Manila, I’d never had an extended opportunity to stay there with a purpose. The Pacific Rim Research Program kindly funded my trip to formally research the visual art community in 2006. I ended up as artist-in-residence at The Living Room in Malate, and also had a brief solo show at Future Prospects, an artist-run space in Cubao, Metro Manila. I was able to learn a tremendous amount in three weeks, via informal interviews, studio visits, and get-togethers with local artists, curators and gallery-goers to find out what drives their creative community.
Cubao has been host to several arts venues in recent years, given its relative proximity to young artists coming from nearby universities. One of the unique aspects of the Cubao scene is the Marikina Shoe Expo (a.k.a. “Cubao X”), a cul-de-sac of old-fashioned shoe shops. In recent years, the old businesses have slowly started winding down and closing, and a number of enterprising young creative professionals have begun moving in, taking advantage of the low rent and establishing a lively new culture, in tried-and-true bohemian tradition.
Experimental contemporary art in the Philippines has been increasingly shown in independent art spaces like these. Outside of monolithic city institutions and the handful of commercial galleries willing to show experimental work, these venues are the only places for artists to exhibit, and for an interested public to experience, cutting-edge contemporary art. There’s a likely time limit to this incarnation of the art scene: rents are rising, the big malls are expanding, and it’s almost certain that the Shoe Expo will eventually be snuffed out. It will be interesting to see how this amazing community evolves next.
