Located in Kamuning, QC, Green Papaya Art Project (GP) is the oldest surviving independent space in Manila. It was co-founded in 2000 by Dona Miranda and Norberto Roldan, who has been directing the projects throughout its 14 years of history. GP was initiated as a continuation of Roldan’s creative practice in Bacolod back in late 1990s, including the foundation of artist collective, Black Artists of Asia and the artist-run festival, Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference 25 years ago. In this conversation, Roldan shares his definition of being “contemporary”.
(March 31, 2014 in Quezon City, Philippines, interviewer: Mayumi Hirano)
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You have initiated significant art projects in 1990s in Bacolod before moving to Manila, namely the Black Artists of Asia and Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference. Both of them were responses to the immediate environments and situations of the culture, art and society in the region. Was Green Papaya Art Project a sort of response to the situation in Manila around 2000?
It started with my desire to continue my cultural activism. I was more of a cultural activist in Bacolod. In fact my career started quite late, later than Charlie Co and Nuni Alvarado’s. I was teaching Fine Arts in Bacolod, but Charlie and Nuni had already started to do exhibitions. But I started as a cultural organiser. So when I left Bacolod, I knew I had to continue my practice.
Physical space has as much political agency. Putting up a space is such a political act as far as I'm concerned. The aim was providing space to under privileged artists, no matter what they do, regales of the social relevancy. Providing opportunity for these people to express themselves is already political. So putting up a space primarily for this purpose for me is a form of social activism. So GP is not much different for me from what I had been doing in Bacolod, except that it was more about organisation of making programs, workshops, visiting communities and presenting works in Bacolod. There was no space. It was a platform. But the programs are similar with GP.
In the first years of GP, who curated the programs at GP?
In the first year, I worked with Bobi Valenzuela. Dona Miranda, cofounder of GP was focusing on her studies in the university in the first years of GP. I invited Bobi because I started exhibiting at Hiraya gallery where Bobi was the curator. It took only one year and we realised that we don't have the same vision. He wanted to continue what Hiraya was doing. For me it was clear why we should put up GP. It didn’t work out. So that was 2000.
In 2001, we realised the location we had on the third floor of a building was very very inconvenient. People had to talk to the guard every time. So when I spotted a garage on the same street, I grabbed it. We just renovated that and I took another apartment. I took in Manny Chavez who was a colleague of mine in the graphic design, and who is also Gilda Cordero Fernando’s creative collaborator. They’ve done theatre books, so Manny was interested in other areas. It was him who introduced more mixed programming at GP. That's when we introduced music programs. That was in 2002. After giving a birth to Joaquin in 2003, Donna went back to dancing again. She started the contemporary dance group.
Donna and I sat down together to program. She wrote and I wrote. But at the time, she was writing more. It was a good team, actually, because she was tuned with performance and exhibitions. By that time, our network of musicians were already established through Manny. Dona's international network helped a lot. Dona left in 2008. Since then I've been running the programs of GP, but lately I asked her to manage one program. We participated in a festival in Amsterdam and I asked her to curate a show there. Last year, I worked with Lian Ladia a lot and then Merv Espina. They were acknowledged as in house curator for specific projects, particularly new media projects. The last program we did together was the Media Art Kitchen, and I told them that I cannot abuse them any more, because they were not receiving anything from GP. But they told me when I need them they will help case to case.
From the beginning, GP was putting up multidisciplinary projects. Were there other artist-run spaces like GP in Manila?
Surrounded by Water, Big Sky Mind actually started a year or 2 ahead of us. They also closed down in the early 2000. Surrounded started in 1998 or so, and they closed the shop on the 18th avenue in Cubao in 2001. Then Big Sky Mind started their residency, I think in 2002. It only ran for 2 cycles until 2004. Ringo Bunoan was already in Nepal. We sort of struggled to survive.
What is your opinion about the rapid growth of art market in Manila?
I think it's important to work with commercial galleries. Otherwise, how will artists survive? What is difficult is trying to find a gallery, who would respect your work for what it is, finding a gallery who will not push you to compromise your work. In my case I was already mature, so I know what I wanted to do, and the gallery respected that.
Alternative space has been playing an important part in contemporary art discourse in Manila.
The bigger the market becomes, more important to have independent spaces to balance off. We need to have both what is presented in the market and what is presented in the alternative space or experimental platform.
With artist-run spaces, when their individual works started to sell in the commercial galleries, the spaces tend to close down quickly. I find it kind of ironic.
With Surrounded by Water, it’s also true that there were many other factors that forced it to close down. But it's also true that there were more demands for their works so they had to spend more time in their studios than running the space. I think in fact the main guy, Wire Tuwazon got married and his work became in demand.
In the case of Big Sky Mind, there were only Katya Guerrero and Ringo Bunoan, so when Ringo was away for 3 or years in Nepal, the space had to close.
Last time when we were here, you told us about the changes of direction with Green Papaya. Are you still pursuing that?
If I'm not mistaken, i told you about disaster relief centre. We conceived the plan before the typhoon Hyan, the Yolanda typhoon. But since Yolanda attacked, we went back to the drawing board. I told myself if you do this, it will be site-specific to Kamunin. When Yolanda hit, i was pretty much emotional that there is nothing I can do. So we were thinking of a pop up design centre for disaster, rehabilitation centre, meaning it will be time-bound project. We put up a shop somewhere in the evacuation centre to have volunteer designers and architects, interior designers, artists to rebuild the living quarters of the victims, because up to now people are still living under tarpaulin and all that. The government is not doing anything for people's living condition.
Milions of dollars were donated internationally for the specific purpose.
Yes, but there is practically nothing happening until the private sectors come in. We are past beyond the relief needing stage. We are more into making a more liveable livelihood, and workshops so people will start earning. Bring in film, theatre, or anything that artists can contribute to make community more liveable. I’m working currently with Australian NGO the counter part of the education last month. She went down already to have an ocular. I’m going there on April 12, and make my own assessment. We are going to do it in Capizas a pilot project. We are not going to bring in medicines and food, other NGOs can take care of that. We will bring in life improvement, life skills. We might even depend on the skills of volunteers who are available.
Artists, architects, designers, anthropologists, theatre people, because we would like to work with different people who can help to put up workshops. I like this idea of a photographer, Alex Baluyot, who started the art kitchen. And it moves around with his team. In the begining he wanted to feed the people who are arriving in the Villamor air base from Leyte, that's all. He set up a kitchen and started cooking adobo and rice.
It’s a very simple but creative idea.
I think there is so much challenge for independent initiatives like 98B to nurture art and culture, and participate within the society, especially the communities being damaged by disasters. Because contemporary art is political no matter how you look at it. What's contemporary? being relevant to your time. If you are not doing anything about it, you will be just contemporary with the galleries. For me contemporary is a life style. I mean I have to live it. Maybe it's an activism.
How do you see the future of contemporary art in the Philippines.
Younger artists are getting richer. There will be works more inclined toward the preference of market. There will be less independent initiatives but they will be producing more surprising works. Maybe there is less attention now to the independent sector but I think we take it more as a challenge than the setback. There is more challenge now in the independent sector to challenge the market. For the younger artists it's more difficult, there was also problem in education.For mid career artists they are more secure in their position. I expect them to bolder steps.
I’m trying not to give in what's comfortable this year. because the real magic happens when you go beyond what's familiar. I challenge myself to stop doing the works that I'm very comfortable with, because it's easy. i want to do things that i have to wake myself early to go to the studio.
I guess that's how we keep ourselves contemporary.
Yes, accept the challenge.
To be contemporary it’s got to be political. Robert Chabet would say how come SR cannot fit in the conceptual art. It's the same. Breezing for Chabet was political.
During the time of Marcos, Chabet was the curator for CCP, so the programs of CCP was conceptual. It was not to say it was irrelevant. People just need to understand it. For Marcos it was the safe way of showing art, which did not seem to criticize the government, it appeals to the senses. It was more about aesthetics and all.
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b. 1953, Roxas City, Philippines | lives and works in Manila
Norberto Roldan’s work offers a commentary on the social, political, and cultural conditions of the Philippines via assemblages of object, text, and image. Roldan’s F-16 (2012), acquired for the Guggenheim’s collection, draws a relationship between the colonization of the Philippines and events on today’s global stage. In 1986, he founded Black Artists in Asia, a Philippines-based group focused on socially and politically progressive practice. He is also the cofounder of the Manila gallery Green Papaya Art Projects. Roldan has had solo exhibitions at Now Gallery, Manila (2011 and 2012); and Vulcan Artbox, Waterford, Ireland (2012). He was also a finalist for the Philip Morris Philippines Art Award, Manila, in 1996, 1997, and 1999. In 1998, he was selected as Juror’s Choice for the same award, as well for the Art Association of the Philippines Annual Art Competition.
© Norberto Roldan and Mayumi Hirano