VIVA ExCon 2023 goes to Antique for the 1st time

From November 8 to 10, artists from the islands of Samar, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Guimaras, and from the provinces of Panay — Aklan, Capiz, and Iloilo — will converge in Antique for the 17^th edition of the Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference (VIVA ExCon).

The event marks a new milestone, and it offers an opportunity to unpack the artistic and cultural milieu of the province – as the host of the Visayas Biennale for the first time since its inception in 1990 by the Black Artists in Asia (BAA). 

Now considered the longest-running and largest art biennale in the Philippines, the VIVA ExCon is a one-of-a-kind gathering of artists designed to showcase the distinct culture of the Visayas region through an art exhibition, forum, lectures, meetings, round table discussions, outdoor installations, and public performances.

The event is usually highlighted by recognizing art movers who have made an impact in their communities and at the regional, national, and international level through the Garbo sa Bisaya Awards (Pride of Visayas).

The center of the face-to-face event is Antique’s capital, San Jose de Buenavista, and parallel events and shows will be held in Sibalom town. Build-up events, collateral exhibitions, and fundraising shows were held in Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo starting in January this year and on the road to their culmination in November.

For this iteration, 45 international and local artists, collectives, cultural workers, scholars, writers, and architecture students are expected to attend the three-day gathering.

The biennale has Dr. Patrick Flores as senior curatorial consultant; Green Papaya Projects, artistic and curatorial direction; Norberto “Peewee” Roldan, artistic director; and Alice Sarmiento, lead curator for the exhibition. The overall festival director is Antique-based artist Bryan Liao.

The three-day event is supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Goethe Institut-Philippines, Japan Foundation-Manila, Outlook Pointe Foundation (OPF), philanthropist Mercedes Zobel, the University of Antique (UA), Antique LGUs, the Local Government of San Jose de Buenavista, the Antique Provincial Government, the Office of the Lone District of Antique Congressman Antonio B. Legarda, Jr., and the Office of Senator Loren B. Legarda.

Homage to Antique’s rivers and streams

The VIVA ExCon 2023 intends to highlight the critical condition of Antique’s ecology and natural environment with the theme “Suba sa Iraya.” It will feature the rich cultural roots of the province, which is the home of the Irayun-Bukidnon, a Kinaray-a speaking indigenous community. Epic chants and dances will be featured by the Panay Bukidnon indigenous community.

The VIVA ExCon 2023 speaks highly of Antique’s rivers, streams, and estuaries, and the Antiqueño artists broached the theme of the exhibition to bring out the matter of its fragile ecosystem, which they consider magical hidden gems where generations of its people subsisted.

“Suba sa Iraya” is a Karay-a phrase that means upstream river (suba is “river” and iraya means “upstream”), a phrase often used to describe “towards the source of the river.” It is also an allegory that denotes counterflow, or “going against a strong current of a river.”

Antique has nine major rivers and is endowed with more or less 70 river systems and tributaries that serve as a channel for naturally flowing freshwater from its 23 mountains, the highest peak of which, and of the entire Panay mountain range, is Mount Madja-as, with water passing some 14 waterfalls before exciting to the Sulu Sea in the west. With its scenic coastlines, it is described as a province where the mountains meet the sea.

The theme serves as an anchor that reflects the aspirations of the Antiqueños, and this is translated into a call to action through the titles of build-up activities with the dual purpose of raising public awareness on ecological issues and the appreciation of local art and culture.

This is demonstrated by the art exhibition entitled “Gibwangan,” which showed artworks at SM City Iloilo from September 25 to October 2, 2023. The show brought Antiqueño art to commercial spaces to spark public interest and facilitate a shared understanding of the role that rivers and streams play in the lives of people in the communities.

The works by more than 20 artists were intended to inspire change, offering a diverse perspective of the region’s rich history, struggles, and dreams through a myriad of colors, textures, and forms that combined traditional and contemporary styles.

“Gibwangan” is a Hiligaynon word that means “mouth of the river” or “junction of two river systems.”

The significance of the theme is also illustrated by the fundraising exhibition titled “Punong sa Ilawod,” held at Museo Iloilo from September 28 to October 1, 2023. The art sale exhibited donated works of artists to VIVA ExCon; some of the names in the collection command high prices in the art market, with 100% of sales going to the organizers to help fund the event.

The fundraising exhibition carried a meaningful Karay-a phrase. Punong means a “water catchment or pond” while ilawod means “downstream river.”

The title describes goodwill and generosity, emblematic of water being an element that flows freely and unrestrained by boundaries.

Honoring the patadyong 

VIVA ExCon 2023 also honored the Visayan patadyong, a traditional wrap-around skirt with unique patterns and colors, as a festival logo.

The logo portrays the sampaguita flower design, a hand-loomed patadyong that can only be found in Bugasong, Antique, a third-class municipality 43 kilometers from San Jose de Buenavista.

The stripe and plaid pattern of the patadyong offers rich symbols and meaning, and it simulates a water current or a crosscurrent when inverted. The subtracted pattern suggests the letters V and A, also when inverted.

The colors of the patadyong in the logo are the most common color combination that can be found in Antique.

Fragmented islands unified by art

VIVA ExCon was conceived in 1989 in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, by the Black Artists in Asia (BAA), a group formed in 1983 and formalized in 1986 by revered names in the art industry today, namely Nunelucio Alvarado, Dennis Ascalon, Charlie Co, Norberto Roldan, and Lilibeth La’o, among others.

The initiative was realized in response to the need to provide attention and focus on Visayan art and connect artists from the different islands.

The organization has been rotated to various islands in the Visayas every two years. The first and second VIVA ExCon were hosted by Bacolod artists in 1990 and 1992, respectively. It has made the rounds to different islands since then: Dumaguete (1994, 2012), Iloilo (1996, 2016), Cebu (1998, 2008, 2010), Bacolod (2004, 2014, and 2020), Leyte (2000), Bohol (2002), Samar (2006), Capiz (2018), and Antique (2023).

The exhibition and conference became a valuable platform for learning and cultural exchange, wherein dialogue and conversations were conducted to discuss issues besetting art movements. It was also organized for networking and linkage and as a venue for camaraderie and solidarity.

The Antique VIVA ExCon Biennale is considered as a trajectory for Antique that will need further unpacking, for it is envisioned as an opportunity to look at Antique’s existing art practices and find resonance with those that are not familiar and popular streams of influence on the island. – Rappler.com

Ted Alwin Ong is an Iloilo-based writer and art blogger. He maintains the website iloiloartlife.com and has served as Rappler’s MovePH Lead Mover for Iloilo.