Malasimbo ’16 visual arts, music offer spiritual synergy
Malasimbo Mangyan Village showcases the different models of tribal village houses, their arts and crafts. There is a lecture series to educate the public on Mangyan history. Proceeds from the annual festival benefit the Mangyan Village preservation. MALASIMBO MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL PHOTO
PUERTO GALERA–Complementing the magical Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival is a well-appointed landscape of visually stunning art installations expressing the genius of 26 international and local contemporary artists.
This year’s Malasimbo Festival grounds will be transformed once again into an outdoor gallery of thought-provoking installations inspired by nature, from the ocean to the cosmos.
“The Sculpture Garden at Malasimbo is a witness to the festival’s love for the visual arts,” says Olivia d’Aboville-Grgic, curator of the Malasimbo Festival installations. Now going on its sixth year, the Malasimbo Festival grounds have seen the works of more than 50 artists using the scenic and breathtaking backdrop of Malasimbo as their canvas.
“Whether permanent or degradable, loud or discreet, phantasmagoric or natural, interactive or silent, the works all have a synergy with the mountain, the landscape, the wind, the ocean or the festival’s creative energy,” D’Aboville-Grgic adds.
« Giant Dandelions » by Olivia d’Aboville-Grgic has earned her international prominence ; she recycled water bottles to create these lighted dandelions that adorn the festival grounds, evoking childhood wonderland fantasy. JIGS TENORIO PHOTO
Among the 24 installations in 2016 are:
“Bagong Punla,” by Jinggoy Buensuceso and Raphael David. This artistic collaboration brings together the industrial form of metal and wood and the neo-surreal texture of silicone and hair. “It depicts the enigmatic cycle in which the sensitive and delicate nature of a new breed eventually turns into the formidable beings,” say the artists.
“Sa Langit Mong Bughaw (“To Your Skies of Blue”)” by Wawi Navarroza and Ling Quisumbing Ramilo. This piece will be an update of one of Malasimbo’s more popular installations—a huge mosaic of fluttering banners pieced together on a giant net to form one giant, captivating tapestry that floats along to the whim of Malasimbo’s breeze. From the orange hue that made it stand out amid Malasimbo’s green, the artists will shift to blue and encourage festival guests to bring their own piece of blue fabric when they create their installation on festival weekend. MALASIMBO FESTIVAL PHOTO
Untitled work by Dan Scotti and Rafaella Las. Filmmakers Scotti and Las, whose love for cinematography and graphic art has led them to collaborate on installations, will create a magical mobile 10 feet in height consisting of 50 orbs that signify the beauty of the cosmos. The 50 resin-based orbs, varying in diameter from 2 inches to 6 inches, will each hold a cyanotype of the galaxy, and be lighted from above with LED to cast the orbs’ shadows on the ground.
“Utopian Visions,” by Iya Regalario andGringo Benedicto. “A visual interpretation of a heavenly realm,” is how Regalario and Benedicto describe their installation. Using a tree stump 2.5-foot high as a mount for a stainless steel basin 2.5-foot wide in diameter, the artists will create a surrealist galaxy using iridescent paints, gelatin, glow-in-the-dark liquid, and found objects to “transport the audience to their own dreamy intergalactic travels.”
“Baleleng,” by Sam Penaso. The title of this Visayan song about fish is the inspiration for Penaso’s work—a 4-foot by 5-foot installation, using bamboo and wood to carve different sizes of fish alongside aluminum tubes designed as wind chimes. Sam Penaso is a native of Bohol. He won 1st Prize in GSIS Art Competition (Mixed Media Category) and some of the most prestigious art competitions in the country, namely Art Association of the Philippines, Metrobank Foundation Young Painters Annual, Banco Sentral Painting Competition, Philip Morris Art Awards, and among others, and 2013-Asian Cultural Council (ACC) six-month artist fellowship grants residency in New York.
Crossword by Sam Penaso, 4 ft x 4 ft embossed mixed media displayed by Altro Mondo Gallery during the recently concluded Art Fair Philippines at The Link, Makati fetched Php180,000. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO.
It’s a genuine love for the arts, passion for their craft, and the mystique of Malasimbo that inspire artists to install their works in Malasimbo’s Sculpture Garden. Recounting the festival’s past installations, D’Aboville Grgic says, “Each artist generously supported the vision of Malasimbo Festival by giving their time, energy and at times, even donating their priceless artworks. All this in exchange for the Malasimbo experience that they share with us once a year.”
“I feel we are like a family, bonded by weekends spent together pre-festival where we share ideas, jam with artist Billy Bonnevie’s collection of drums, gongs and indigenous instruments, sing along with sculptor Agnes Arellano as she strums the Puerto Galera song on her ukelele, and share meals,” adds D’Aboville-Grgic, who is also a recognized visual artist in her own right.
Other artists exhibiting their works in the Malasimbo Festival 2016 as of February are Agnes Arellano, Billy Bonnevie, Denis Lagdameo, Dondi Katigbak, Doring Lalongisip, Grace Katigbak, Henri Lamy, Hiyas Bagabaldo, Hohana, Leeroy New, Libbet Loughnan, Maia d’Aboville, Mek Yambao, Melanie Gritzka del Villar, Olivia D’Aboville-Grgic, Russ Ligtas, and Troy Silvestre. For more information, visit the website: https://malasimbofestival.com/
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