Mactan Cebu International Airport: Coming home to a world-class art destination
Traveling to Cebu, a place I have visited many times over the years, makes me feel like I am coming home. I’m half Cebuano, after all. And on this recent trip it was also about coming home to a world-class art destination, with that experience beginning at the airport.
It’s no coincidence that one of the reasons I flew to Cebu was to witness an agreement signing between the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and the National Museum. This was for “Indio-Genius: Balikbayan #1 and 500 Years of Homecoming to Cebu” by National Artist Kidlat Tahimik, soon to be installed right at the airport itself.
As my plane took off from Manila my heart was caught up in excitement, my Cebuano blood informing me I was that Balikbayan #1, heading home. I felt the waves of a homesick Cebuano whose destination is very near. Little did I know that this feeling was precisely what Kidlat Tahimik’s installation was all about.
It’s the Veloso in my name that hails from this sunny island, but one doesn’t need to be Cebuano to be proud of these brave people. They toppled the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, perceived to be an interloper, which colonizers the world over turned out to be.
There are naturally two sides to the story, and while we Pinoys regard Lapulapu as the true hero, protecting his homeland from marauders, there may be a third, overlooked personage in this particular tale. More about that in a bit.
The MCIA is the perfect new home for Kidlat Tahimik’s galleon installation because the airport itself is an impressive, beautiful piece of art. Despite its size, its use of wood in its design and the wonderful staff make it warm, welcoming and efficiently run.
The wooden beams that curve way above you make you feel you’re in the hull of a galleon. The spacious layout, variety of homegrown and imported shops and dining options make you feel like you’re abroad. That it pursues sustainability as a non-negotiable goal is another admirable and discernible feature starting with that very visible use of wood.
The MCIA has already achieved world class standards as an airport—I can think of quite a few foreign airports that it already surpasses. Yet, as airport general manager Thanos Titonis and his team explain, they are aiming for even greater heights.
Creating that perfect airport experience is a major part of making MCIA a world-class gateway to the Philippines and its many islands. Apart from constantly improving and refining its product even further, the MCIA is now demonstrating that an airport can be an alternative platform for many forms of art.
It’s hard to forget that Cebu itself is already a destination for the arts—historical and visual arts, fashion design and accessories, furniture and home furnishings, a newly opened outpost of the National Museum and in November, the Visayas Art Fair. So if you thought Cebu was just about wonderful beaches, nature tripping, historical sightseeing, restaurant hopping and the like, well, you’re missing out.
Signing the agreement between the National Museum, represented by Jeremy Barns and Andoni Aboitiz, and representatives of MCIA was a major move—airport as art space. And there could be no better way to start than with Kidlat Tahimik’s installation.
National Artist “Tatay” Kidlat is the father of indie film, and he treated us to the unfinished, 44 years-in-the-making version of an intriguing tale. This was the story of Enrique de Malacca, the Filipino who completed the first circumnavigation of the world that Magellan failed to finish.
How did that happen?
Enrique was a Filipino slave who managed to end up in a market in Malacca, which is where Magellan purportedly picked him up. The film, and the installation teasers at the airport show how it was Enrique, who knew how to read the stars and the seas—just as importantly could speak Bisaya—that guided the Portuguese explorer to the Philippines. In doing so, Enrique made his own way back home, and became Balikbayan #1.
Kidlat hopes that having his dramatic and thought-provoking galleon installation, which was previously on display at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila, will encourage young Filipinos to be proud of their pre-colonial heritage while still imbibing what is good from the different peoples that colonized the Philippines over time.
“If we bring our pre-colonial culture into the picture we can still use [what we learned from our colonizers] to our advantage,” he tells me. “Of course we always have that complex… that our culture is so backward, so primitive. And Hollywood is constantly telling us, ‘try to be like us.’”
“We should not be copycats,” he adds, speaking of Filipino creativity. “Ang galing natin, we don’t need to copy anyone.” In culture-rich Cebu, that is plain to see.
That Filipino uniqueness also applies to the airport. MCIA general manager Thanos Titonis sets certain airports abroad as a standard—for instance, Shanghai and Hong Kong for efficiency and technology.
“But if you are looking for custom experience and the warmth of the people, [MCIA] really sets the standard,” he adds.
That warmth and hospitality, caring and nurturing attitude of the Filipinos has already been deployed here and abroad to our advantage.
Visitors to MCIA can now look forward to more art and more of that world-class service, which brings us to the Skytrax Awards.
Skytrax is to airports what the Oscars are to movies. Travelers vote and rate airports on a variety of categories and MCIA has already snagged a coveted 4-Star rating from the UK-based airline and airport-rating website. But MCIA wants to achieve even more.
Aboitiz IntraCapital, which manages MCIA, and VIPs, including the much-loved Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia, presided over dinner at Tambuli Seaside Resort to launch Abiba Sugbo. This is the campaign to get Skytrax voted best in airport service. Achieving such an award would elevate MCIA even further in the eyes of the world’s discerning travelers.
The return trip to Manila once again began with the seamless service, connectivity and warmth of the airport. While MCIA is clearly the best in the Philippines right now, the Aboitiz group is committed to making MCIA one of the best airports—in the world.
I urge readers and travelers to vote MCIA into the Skytrax Awards, which it deserves. Let’s add it to the list of the many achievements of the Filipinos on the world stage. And when the full Kidlat Tahimik installation is unveiled in November it will add even more sheen to this remarkable place.
All of this good news gives me, and those who travel the roads of life more reason to go home… to Cebu, a world-class destination in itself.