Bringing the art diaspora back home (through a Nena Saguil lens)
Filipino artist Nena Saguil had a comfortable life in Manila. But she chose to live in Paris, in a small apartment, continuing her artistic journey there until she died, blind, in 1994. Her works found wide recognition when she exhibited in Manila in the ‘50s (along with Fernando Zobel and other abstractionists) and she’s now recognized as one of the key Filipino artists of the post-war period.
What happens to artists when their work is created far from home?

It’s a question Art House may have had in mind, inviting nine disparate Filipino artists living abroad to do a show back here in Manila inspired by Saguil’s work. Called “Lakbay: Voyages into the Absolute with Nena Saguil,” the exhibit is at Discovery Primea, Mezzanine Level, from Feb. 8-12.
Art House was founded by Juan Carlo Pineda, Maritess Pineda, and Maiqui Pineda in 2019 as a “creative incubator,” bridging Filipino artists back to their home country through exhibits and mentorships. It sounds strange, but many Filipino artists based abroad have a hard time breaking into the insular gallery scene of Manila. Getting a show here can be next to impossible.

“When we really talk about bridging Filipinos, what better way to do it than through the Philippine diaspora?” says Carlo at the preview held at Flame Restaurant. “We are 16 million strong all around the world, and each of these families are connected to families here in the Philippines.”
With a mission to become “a home to contemporary Filipino artists,” the nine artists selected by Art House directors Juan, Maritess, Maiqui and curator Marika Constantino may all have regular jobs in the respective countries where they’re based; but art is their true passion.

Take Kulay Labitigan, a gay London-based graphics designer (or “creative talesmith”) whose work caught the eye of Art House; his piece is an installation titled “7,642nd Island.” Reflecting on an imaginary “digital” island beyond the official 7,641 number, it’s a colorful assemblage of yarn-bound objects sitting atop beige-colored boxes that opens to reveal a more personal history. “I realized that my work is actually story, a story of my mom, who lives six months in the US with my sister, then six months back here with the rest of my family,” says Kulay. Like a lot of Filipinos, she stuffs things in cardboard boxes and ships them home. “Our house is a big storage space of boxes, and whenever we open one, we always wonder, what is this? What is this for? Where did you get this? And the work is actually telling that story: that my mom is just one of millions of Filipinos abroad, sending balikbayan boxes of almost nonsensical things, or domestic things, just to fill the gap of them being away and living on that 7,642nd island.”

That gap is something Carlos says Art House hopes to fill. “Right now, there’s a craving. A lot of the talk now is how do (Filipinos abroad) connect and create more affinity? Because they’ve grown up there, second generation, third generation, they’ve been educated there, so they don’t have a connection to their motherland. As a Filipino, having family here, you’re trying to fill that void all the time. So now there’s more relevance for the pieces that they’ll be creating, because they’re going back to their homeland.”

Working with curator Marika Constantino, Art House drew up a list of nine interesting artists—intergenerational, from different parts of the world — and asked them to create works inspired by Saguil. “We had a sort of learning session for the artists, so they were also well informed about who she is, how important she is to Philippine art history,” being “one of very few Filipinas during the 1950s who dabbled in abstract or non-objective art, and who was recognized for it.”
Note that these are not artists struggling to emerge; they work hard at careers, while still actively pursuing art as well. Carlo mentions, “It’s very important that you have artists that have already an ongoing practice in the communities that they serve.”

“There should be already a potential,” adds Maritess, “so you can see they already understand how to build within their own community and create work that might resonate also here. They need to have that strength and following in order for it to have a resonance outside of their community.”
Art House, after all, is not an NGO but a “platform” that relies on art sales to generate more exposure. “We’re not a foundation ourselves; we’re also a commercial establishment that needs to be profitable,” notes Carlo. “Because if we’re not profitable, then there’s no future.”
Saguil—whose nephew, Benji, spoke at the launch about his aunt’s artistic journey abroad—certainly knew the value of staying true to her roots. In her own words: “Your ‘roots’ will always be expressed in anything you do. The Filipino in the artist will always show up in his (her) work; it will show even through his (her) own insecurity. I think we are too conscious of being ‘Filipino.’ The important thing is sincerity... Therefore, one must free oneself—within one’s self.”
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Lakbay: Voyages into the Absolute with Nena Saguil” runs at Discovery Primea from Feb. 8-12.