Philipines back at Venice biennale after 50-year gaps

After a 51-year absence, the Philippines is making a comeback at the 56th International Art Exhibition in Venice, more popularly known as the Venice Biennale, Philstar.com reports.


The plan was announced on April 15 by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert Del Rosario, Italian Ambassador Massimo Roscigno, National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) chairman Felipe de Leon, and Senator Loren Legarda at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).


“It was in 1964 when the Philippines participated for the first and last time, with National Artists Jose Joya and Napoleon Abueva,” Del Rosario said. “This year, artists Manuel Conde, Carlos Francisco, together with the works of Manny Montelibano and Jose Tence Ruiz, will bring the Philippines to the forefront of the contemporary art scene.”


“No one really knows why we were absent for so long from the Venice Biennale,” Legarda, who first raised the idea of participating again in 2013, said. “When I asked the DFA and NCCA why the Philippines was not participating, they said there were attempts to join but the support was not enough and maybe no one really pushed hard to make it happen.”


Senator Legarda first posed the question during the budget hearings of the DFA in 2013. The senator had visited the 2013 Venice Biennale and, noting the presence of countries such as the Maldives, was determined that the Philippines would have its own pavilion.


To encourage participation, her office, in conjunction with the DFA and NCCA, held an open call among artists, galleries and academic institutions, which resulted in 16 curatorial submissions.
by inter-media artist Jose Tence Ruiz. “I wanted a monolithic object to converse with the moving image,” Flores explained.


Dealing with issues of country, territory, borders and patrimony, “We wanted to make sure the proposal contained a very clear, focused message,” said NCCA chair De Leon, one of the judges who selected the proposal, “because in order to have an impact in the Venice Biennale, we need a very intelligent message that is timely and very relevant.”


Philippine presence at the bi-annual art festival is particularly crucial since the Venice Biennale is where the world’s art trends are first presented, and then promoted.