MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Kurit-Lagting, a collective artistic collaboration of Bicolano artists from Sorsogon, Albay, Catanduanes, Masbate and Camarines provinces with art advocacies on human rights and the environment, will be launching the “Pagbutwa”, online exhibit on October 31, 2020 via Facebook Live in partnership with UAPSA Area B District 5 and Sorsogon Initiatives for Culture and Arts Development.
“Pagbutwa, a Bicolano word for emergence or the process of arrival, coming into view, and becoming exposed after being concealed will explore different visual representations by artists that talk about challenges, pain, happiness, and memories from the displacement, dislocation, and temporality brought about by the present health crisis,” said Res Demdam, a Kurit-Lagting member since 2011.
It is an online multidisciplinary community art project or an artistic endeavor that features themes about the struggles of artists, workers and frontliners during this challenging time. It also encourages active participation and creativity in the Bicolano community, through group interaction and self-exploration.
“The featured works will be uploaded in Kurit-Lagting’s official social media pages. The works will talk much about the disruption of the artistic process and the artistic product or outcome in the context of containment, and restriction which may be regarded as dialogues between the ecology of production and space,” quipped Robert Marticio, UAPSA Area B District 5 president and Kurit-Lagting honorary member.
“The online exhibit will be curated by Bicolano artist-curator, Geri Matthew Carretero. As an artist-curator, he has exhibited his artworks and curated shows in various museums and galleries with themes about migration, displacement, and disability,” added Jhon Fred Manaligod, the newest member of the art collective.
Carretero’s community-based initiatives include working as a volunteer and consultant for communication, branding, advocacy and networking for NGOs that help children, youth, women, persons with disability (PWDs), and other vulnerable groups. He is presently finishing his Master of Fine Arts Degree at the University of the Philippines, Diliman.
