HONG KONG — WAN Gallery and artist Joar Songcuya have successfully produced a major solo exhibition, which opened March 27, at Art Central Hong Kong 2024. The exhibit, Pilgrimage to the Ancient Seas, was presented at Booth C23 in the Central Harbourfront Event Space.
Art Central Hong Kong selected the Filipino artist as one of the Duk Dak Solo Presentations featured at this year’s fair. Duk Dak, a common Cantonese phrase meaning “individually special,” is a sector launched in 2021 featuring emerging and established talent through solo artist projects presented by their gallery. This is Joar’s first solo exhibition outside of the Philippines and the debut of his representation by WAN Gallery in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China.
Joar transformed the booth into an immersive space of the water world. He navigated it for over 10 years of his life, from the Aegean to the Adriatic Sea, the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, to the Gulf of Persia towards the Red Sea. This exhibition is his recollection of the Seven Seas referenced in Ancient Greek literature.
Director of WAN Gallery Chih Hsuan Wan shared, “While Joar identifies as a Filipino artist, his travels have enriched his artistic perspective, incorporating global cultural influences into his work. This amalgamation is what lends his art such profound meaning, offering a narrative that speaks to future generations. This exhibit, Pilgrimage to the Ancient Seas, is particularly poignant with Joar painting not just the sea, but on the sea itself, offering a unique perspective.
“His debut in Hong Kong marks a pivotal moment in his artistic journey, where he grapples with past traumas and current struggles, finding balance amidst adversity.”
A self-taught painter and seafarer, Joar spent a decade sailing the world aboard commercial ships. During his travels to over 50 countries and 86 international shipping ports and terminals, he developed a deep interest in themes such as water and statelessness, migration, oceanography, engineering, marine ecology, and sea-based labor, all of which are relevant to his homeland, the Philippines — a maritime nation.
When asked to reflect on the milestone solo presentation, the artist meditated on the shifting social constructs of the experience. Joar observed, “I’m here already; it’s like this is a sea, and I just dip my toe in there. I’m not yet fully bathed [in the art world], just the tip of my toe. So, it will take a bigger challenge. But you swim when you’re there. You kind of propel yourself, and then you float. You surrender your body to the water, or do you know, you trust, and then you float, you will be.”
As extracted from the exhibition note entitled “On Navigation and Ritual” by Francisco Lee, “Like knots on a rope, the seven seas were stops along a maritime route now largely used for commercial or trading purposes. Gone are the days of heroes and epics, there are no more Olympian deities. He who was once a sailor — who will always be a sailor — and had traversed the ancient seas has become a vessel himself, containing the temper of past millennia and emptying it onto paintings, after which he becomes full again.”
Joar Songcuya was born in Iloilo, Philippines, and has been living and working in La Union since joining an artistic residency with Emerging Islands in 2022. His ongoing research ‘The Seamanship Project’, based on the lives of Filipino sea-based migrant workers, was supported by the NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour from Para Site Hong Kong.
Most recently, he collaborated with artist Stephanie Comilang for her exhibit and film, En Busca de la Vida / Search for Life, presented by Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, on view in Madrid through May 2024.
He presented Passage to Suez: Passage of Oil’ part of ‘على ضفاف الأرض / At The Edge of Land’ at Hayy Jameel, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, U.A.E. 2023–24, and Sea People, Country Shores, part of ‘誰も知らないアーティスト / Nobody knows their story’ at 黄金町バザール Koganecho International Artist’s Network 2023 Yokohama, Japan.
In the Philippines, he has crafted solo exhibitions around his life at sea: The Sea Is not a Quiet Place in 2022 and The History of Water in 2021 with Altro Mondo Gallery, and Atlantiko, Pasipiko, Artiko for VIVA EXCON Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference at Orange Gallery 2020 to 2021.
