By Giselle P. Kasilag
ITS NOTORIOUS reputation as one of the most controversial edifices ever built in Metro Manila precedes it. The Manila Film Center, crumbling from disuse, conjures a wide range of memories from pedestrians passing by. Depending on the age of the viewer, this ranges from images of collapsed scaffoldings and injured workers vainly fighting for their lives when parts of the structure collapsed during construction, to this haunted building that always felt empty even when various production companies attempted to hold performances within its theaters. Eerie, scary, creepy — these are adjectives often used to describe the space.
For artist and mushroom farmer Jomar Galutera, however, there is more to the building than a favored place for ghost-hunting. As his edible mushrooms flourish in dark spaces, he sees an interaction between the disintegrating building and organic matter that shelters in the hard cement. There is a dialogue between the darkness and the light, the dying and the living, and the past and the future.
This dialogue is at the heart of The White Elephant Project with the Manila Film Center as the second iteration of this series of exhibitions. The first was the Bataan Nuclear Powerplant. Fittingly, the second installment is held at the Bulwagang Roberto Chabet of the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez, within the same complex where his subject matter also stands. Curated by Fr. Jason Dy, SJ, the exhibit is ongoing until Aug. 13.
“The ‘White Elephant Project is a serial inquiry in the monumental infrastructure in the Philippines that have large construction and conservation cost but with limited social and cultural impact particularly in terms of people’s developmental goals,” Fr. Dy said. “This investigative project recalls architectural goals of the past like conflicted intentions, construction anomalies, and cultural agendas. The degenerate state of the structures is assessed in light of their intended purpose as well as the relevance to the present socioeconomic, cultural, political and environmental context.”
“To support his independent practice, Mr. Galutera propagates edible mushrooms and sells them to local restaurants in Lucban, Quezon. Perhaps this mushroom farming provided him with the insight into how organic materials flourish in the decomposing substrate matter. This idea resonates with how disused, derelict and destroyed buildings may have a future for utilitarian and humanitarian purposes,” he added.
The exhibition is a collection of pieces including paintings, photographs, and video projections. The variety is unsurprising given the artist’s diverse training. Mr. Galutera is a graduate of Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Painting from the Philippine Women’s University in Manila. Prior to that, he studied architecture at the Far Eastern University for two years. He also explored photography and video production. The exhibit utilizes all the techniques he has studied along with his life experiences and personal observations. The result is a commentary on a structure that all can see but no one wants to address — a white elephant in a complex where everything else is alive, dynamic and evolving.
Ariel Yonzon, associate artistic director of the Production and Exhibition Department of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), shared many personal experiences at the Manila Film Center during the exhibit opening. He joined the CCP a few years after the structure was built.
He remembered art film screenings at a time when the concept of art films was not yet popular in the Philippines. Sometimes, only four people would be in the audience, and he would have to wait for everyone to exit because part of his duty was to lock the theater up. He would be the last to leave and being alone in a structure that did not regularly get visited by a lot of people, the ambience made him uncomfortable.
He admitted that there have been many attempts to reuse the space and fashion it into something more relevant for the needs of the artists today. From a performance venue to a creative hub for artists and filmmakers, nothing seemed to stick.
“The commentary, the artistic take of Jomar on the building actually gives us a glimpse of the very basic definition of architecture,” Mr. Yonzon said. “When you try to define architecture, it’s like form and function. So is the building, according to form, able to serve what its intended function was or is? And I think that’s what the collections that we will be witnessing on the upper floor that is a dialogue of Jomar with our building here at the Manila Film Center.”
He also pointed out that the first exhibit in the Bulwagang Roberto Chabet was called “Space/Place,” making it an appropriate forerunner to The “White Elephant” which now talks about architecture and the dialogue between space, art and artmaking.
Mr. Galutera’s artmaking has been heavily informed by his experience with Project Space Pilipinas. An artist-run space in Quezon, it has encouraged him to explore and push the boundaries of his technique using accessible materials such as multi-purpose bond papers, multiple inkjet prints, and starch glue.
“The common themes that undercut the common artistic evolution are the failures of built infrastructure and the promise of ruined buildings,” reiterated Fr. Dy. “His works are like research into how public structures are being laid waste after large sums were invested in resources becoming markers of time, elements and human neglect destroy man-made edifices and being reconfigured as blueprints for prospective site adaptive reuse.”
