Three curatorial projects about the Philippines islands and landscape will be part of the “Curating Around Islands” curatorial development program at the Orange Gallery at the Art District in Mandalagan, Bacolod City, from Saturday, September 23, to October 24.
“Curating Around Islands” is the outcome of a curatorial development workshop organized by the Japan Foundation Manila, the Philippine Contemporary Art Network (PCAN), and the UP Vargas Museum in February 2022, a press release said.
The curatorial projects of Jose Mari Cuartero, Joaquin Singson, and Dominic Zinampan will be on display at the gallery and were selected through submissions to the Curatorial Development Workshop series last year.
The three curatorial projects include the Lumba-Lumba, Ring of Fire, and Clouds and Portals.
Cuartero’s “Lumba-Lumba” probes the reparative potential of following a marine life form such as a lumba-lumba or dolphins, Singson explores the Pacific Ocean through the lens of the American empire through “Ring of Fire”, and Zinampan locates the contingency of resources as part of a broader project on the processes of exchange involving various independent arts initiatives across the Philippine archipelago through his “Clouds and Portals” curation.
Altogether, the curatorial projects embarks on an animated, embedded, and buoyant journey through dialogs and traversals of spaces, localities, and histories, the press release added.
The Curatorial Development Workshop is a platform for a vibrant exchange of curatorial ideas and art discussions, with the 2022 edition inspired by the Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference (VIVA ExCon) which is a model of curatorial practice, it also said.*