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BY RHICK LARS VLADIMERALBAY
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ONE OF my favorite writers Arundhati Roy – the powerhouse behind “The God of Small Things” – offers this wisdom about the act of storytelling:
“Writers imagine that they cull stories from the world. I’m beginning to believe… it’s actually the other way around. Stories cull writers from the world. Stories reveal themselves to us. They commission us. They insist on being told.”
The year 2017 has been an inspiring year for me as a journalist and as a collector of stories, let me round out the year with a few vignettes and excerpts from a handful of my favorite articles of mine from the past year.
MIRACLE ON RIZAL PALA-PALA II
Fifty-year-old mother of five Nanay Melba* has seen for herself the sweeping change endorsed by Duterte in the congested neighborhood of Barangay Rizal Pala-Pala II, Iloilo City.
While admitting that the anti-drug crusade has sprung significant good in some aspects, she continues to be wary of the “change” our current president is trying to peddle.
“Gapasalamat gid ko nga subong nag-untat na ang druga, galling ang masakit subong biskan wala ka sala, nagbag-o ka na, gina-amo ka pa na,” she says, concerned and worried.
The issue hits close for Nanay Melba. More than a decade ago, she and her husband turned to selling shabu from their small home to provide for their family, especially their youngest son, Paulo, who was just a little over two years old at the time.
“Sa kapigadohon gin kilanlan gid,” Nanay Melba says of their decision to sell prohibited drugs. There was a time they could not afford to buy milk for their children. Their newborn was subsisting on sugar mixed in water. Wanting to provide for them better, the couple took to trading shabu.
For a time, selling drugs provided well for her family, until Paulo was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of four in 2004. The shattering news forced Nanay Melba to take a hard look at the life she led. She has long given up selling illegal drugs.
‘LANAHAN, LUMAY’
Hidden in plain sight along one of Iloilo City Proper’s major thoroughfares is a line of tiny street-side shops that carry on a rich local culture that’s in peril of fading away.
Nanay Analyn has been selling local charms and traditional medicine near the corner of Rizal and Iznart, for nearly 30 years now – all the knowledge she has, she learned as a teenager from her grandmother, an Aeta healer. Analyn shares that just a few months ago, a woman struggling to repair her relationship with a distant boyfriend approached her for help.
She called on her grandmother, who traveled from the hinterlands of Antique to Iloilo City, to perform the ritual for a lumay, a love spell that could bring the couple – drifting apart – back together.
In the shadow of the Jaro Cathedral, a handful of Aeta women unfold banig on the ground – a makeshift stall for their wares – also carrying on the indigenous tradition.
HANDMADE, HEARTMADE
“In a world of mass production, machines, and manufacturing, we are going back to the unique art made by hands. Every jewelry piece goes through a slow and intricate journey,” explains Kristine Buenavista, one of the founders of the social enterprise Alima Community – adding that their name is derived from the Kinaray-a word for “hand”.
Why not complete your outfit with the shimmering “Walowalo” – named after the elusive sea snake (all designs in the “Kataw” line are named after indigenous fishes and sea creatures) – dangling earrings made from brass and shards of sea glass, designed by Lawigan local Jen-jen Sargento; or Ging Meñeza’s “Pakol – Makalilingaw” could be more to your liking, the piece crafted from discarded rubber slippers and plastic rope can top off any Bohemian getup.
“Rofil” named after 40-year-old artisan Rofil Casipe from an Aeta community in Barotac Viejo, offers the eye-catching “Hakos” – a necklace made of puyas seeds, nito vine, and brass – and the heart-shaped “Mabinatyagon,” from endemic vines and seeds to statement piece.
A SEAT AT THE TABLE
Around the colossal “Genesis Table” centerpiece are arranged an array of chairs designed by the emerging artists and designers of QuoLab Iloilo 2017 – among them Goldwynn Navarro’s avant-garde “Venus” with its plastic tentacles inspired by the venus flytrap; and LaHuBre Designs’ / Joan Reyes and Pam Laserna’s “Taas” chairs with their unorthodox twists on classic Filipino design sensibilities.
Coined from “status quo” and “laboratory” – and a double entendre for collaboration, QuoLab Iloilo aims to be a yearly affair in the hopes of inspiring an endless pursuit for design innovation in Iloilo City.
The rest of the exhibit’s pieces seem to branch out from the heavy central piece: This interactive installation that marries art with furniture, a show of force from some of the most talented young designers in the region – and a fitting image from emerging artists seeking a seat at the proverbial table.
Coined from “status quo” and “laboratory” – and a double entendre for collaboration, QuoLab Iloilo aims to be a yearly affair in the hopes of inspiring an endless pursuit for design innovation in Iloilo City.
“QuoLab is an attempt to challenge the status quo of the design industry,” explained architect-entrepreneur Stephen Peñaranda, one of the conveners of QuoLab Iloilo 2017 – alluding to the art and design world’s unspoken hierarchy, wherein masters and the old guard are raised on pedestals, as new generations of artists often struggle to get the opportunities and encouragement they deserve. (maverhick.blogspot.com/PN)
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