Not to mention the importance of his individual work, Don Salubayba is known as the father of the Anino Shadowplay Collective and a mentor for many young talents. We met up in a coffee shop in SM Megamall, where he had three other meetings on the same day.
(September 25th, 2013,
Interviewer: Mayumi Hirano)
*******************
Why is it called "Anino Shadowplay Collective "?
It started as a school-based
collective at the Philippine High School for the Arts in Mt. Makiling in Los
Banos, Laguna. In 1992, students and graduates of the school, including Alwin
Reamillo started a shadow play collective. They made an MTV like vignettes of
stories about the Philippines. It was such a clever idea that whenever they
traveled to different areas, they would collect local stories through a
workshop with a community and they would add it to their repertoire. I think
they started with 12 stories, and they ended up with 24. I was still in high school
and very curious about what they were doing. When we were about to be the
members next in the line, somehow the group disbanded. It was when we were in 4th
year, and we loved the craft of shadow play, so my batch mates and I continued
the group. We just did it outside the classroom and after graduating in PHSA,
we went to the University of the Philippines and took up Fine Arts. We still
continued the craft. And it was 5 of us. We collaborated with different groups and
performed in dormitories and some festivals. And then after university, we
still wanted to do it.
While being active in the shadow play collective, you
also developed your own practice.
My artwork and shadow play
is very close to each other, because I became active in shadow play first before
becoming a painter. Even though I was participating in group shows, I still
didn't know what to do. Shadow play was so focused and clear that I knew I was
doing it because of reasons. I loved the craft and researching different
stories. For two years I always had a struggle with my former mentor, Bobi
Valenzuela. He would always ask me: are you a puppeteer or a painter? He said he
wanted me to paint, but I didn't know what to paint. In the shadow play, I had
a good mission to look for old forgotten stories. I followed a clear path. It
made more sense to me.
My first show was in Boston
gallery in Quezon City. I exhibited works that were about how a person develops
himself directly and indirectly, like a vessel, container of some sort to
absorb information and experience. When I was preparing the show, I related to
all the people I met through the research. Since then, I have been kind of
juggling between doing my own work and collective work, which I always say one
always feeds the other artistic wise. Even if it doesn’t feed you financially,
it’s OK when you were single. You are living with your parents who feed you
cooked meals, so it was not a problem for me back then. I was doing what I
wanted. Then I got the grant from Asian Cultural Council (ACC) to have a
residency in New York and California, which pretty much opened up lot of stuff
for me. It proved me that I can actually combine them. So I combined them
through animation. Because when I was in New York, I don’t have the group with
me, so I could do puppets but I cannot perform. So I started to use video and
stuff, and then I realized that my paintings were very narrative. There is
always more than one story behind the work. So I came up with a show that
combines still paintings and videos for the first time in Kuandu Biennale (2012)
in Taiwan where I literally combined them together like projection on
paintings.
You also had a residency with Fukuoka Art Museum in 2008.
Fukuoka was crazy
(laughs). They told me I'm only required to do one workshop for the community,
but they kept offering me the opportunities. In total, I ended up doing 6 community
workshops. I also gave a public talk to old people. It was very touching
because I talk about Philippines in my work, and during the open forum, an old
lady raised her hand and she said in Japanese “does the Filipinos hate
Japanese?” I said “why?” And I realized her generation of Japanese has the
experience of the war. I said “no, no, no. Not any more. There might be
individual cases but no more. I have a lot of Japanese friends.” After the
talk, she told me about her personal story. Her daughter wanted to go to the Philippines
for school, but she didn't allow her. But her daughter still went out without
letting her mother know. They asked me to look for her in the Philippines.
You attract people to share stories. Collaboration seems
to be an important aspect of your practice.
Collaboration is not for
everyone, I guess. I started in collective before individual practice, so it’s
natural for me to work with people. There are some collaborations you just have
to do it. I learnt from Anino Shadowplay Collective (Anino) how to play with my
ego, how to put my ego. Amongst Anino members, I’m the one who collaborates with
people even outside of the group. I'm also the one who always declares that I'm
not going to collaborate with the theatre people any more. The successful collaboration
for me is when we treat each other equally. You teach each other. There is no
hierarchy like “I'm controlling you.” I think in theatre, it's very obvious.
I'm the director, and you are the visual designer. At least treat me equally. I’m
the visual designer, and I demand the respect for my visual design. This is my
process. If you don’t work like this, what's your expectation, I ask. If we
cannot find a middle ground, I will walk away. I don't push through.
Tell me the process that Anino goes through when creating
a new work. Do you guys get into fight once in while?
There is no set procedure.
It's organic. If you have an idea, you think of the process to realize. So
whoever suggests the idea is the leader of the project.
Actually, after we made a
piece based on “Ibalon” (an epic from Bicol), there was no more fighting. Ibalon
was the most crucial - we were fighting a lot. After that, the process became
smooth. There were debates about how to do things without fighting. We were all
single back then. Now 50% of our group is married and has kids. We are still
friends. Some of us are good parents. So we are like a big family. Actually
there is no fighting. Fighting comes only during the trips when we get grumpy
but not artistically.
Are all of you visual artists?
Majority of us are visual
artist. There are theatre actors, scriptwriters and animators, and housewives. They
are the most helpful ones. Housewives with no more kids to take care of…
Everyone plays different roles in the group.
Everyone plays different
roles, and everyone can change the roles. Some lead, and others can follow. The
idea is everyone can do what everyone can do. Just in case, some is not
available, some can take care of it. Now we are 5 of us, and we’ve been together
for quite some time, so it’s easy for us.
Do you incorporate traditional puppetry techniques?
You will be surprised to
know that Philippines don’t have the puppet traditions. It was erased by the
colonizers. There is one that is close to puppetry in Palawan, which is used to
solve a dispute in the community. It’s kind of a shamanistic practice. In
theory, we could have been influenced by the Wayang tradition, which is used to
spread stories. So possible it could be the case, but there is no record.
So, Anino is also using the shadow play to spread the
stories of the Philippines.
Yes, pretty much. We are
also interested in spreading the medium itself. When Anino was not known, we
thought of using a popular literature, Florante at Laura, taught in the 2nd
year in high school. Actually by doing so, we were able to get people’s
attention. A lot of people came to experience the shadow play.
Do you hope Anino will continue to the next generation?
We don't know. We think in
a very Filipino way, meaning we think only in a very short term. I don’t know.
Can I ask other members? The charm of the group is that we just want to do it.
Being a Filipino we live in the moment. We play because its fun. Makiling is
still continuing the visual arts program, and De La Salle-College of Saint
Benilde is picking up the program. There is another puppet group, Mulat
Theatre, which is very well organized. They are around since the 70’s, and they
are a family.
But it’s a good question. It’s
about time to think about the future of the group. My kids might pick it up. I
don’t know. What's happening with the group is that the priorities change. I
can probably say that I’m the only one who is really practicing it
consistently. But I think it's always the case with collectives or groups. The
one with the deepest passion is always the one who takes care of it, and I also
see myself being the one for Anino. Money doesn’t matter if you love the craft,
but I understand that priorities change, which is not a bad thing. It’s just
the way things are.
*******************
In March 12, 2014, Don
Salubayba passed away and is survived by wife OJ and children Amaya
and Elias.
Don M. Salubayba (1978-2014) graduated at
the Philippine High School for the Arts and obtained Fine Arts degree at the
University of the Philippines. He received the Thirteen Artists Award from the
Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2009. He was awarded grants from the
Asian Cultural Council to participate in a residency program at the Headlands
Center for the Arts in Sausalito, California, and at the International Studio,
and Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York City in 2004-2005, and an Artist
Residency at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Fukuoka, Japan in 2008. He has had
exhibitions in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Vermont, USA and participated in
the 2012 Kuandu Biennale. He won the Special Jury Prize Award and Voice Award
at the Singapore Short Film Festival held at the Substation Art Center in
Singapore for his animation piece, “A Not So Giant Story” in 2006. Don
currently teaches at Philippine High School for the Arts and is an active
member of Anino Shadowplay Collective.
© Don M. Salubayba and the author
© Don M. Salubayba and the author