DEC13_SUPERDUPERFINAL

ROXAS (2018)
The 2018 VIVA ExCon was hosted by Roxas City, led by none other
than the man who founded the biennial in 1990, Peewee Roldan.
He did not attend the succeeding ExCons since the second VIVA
ExCon in 1992 and Cebu in 1998. For whatever reasons he had
for his absence, the responsibility of running VIVA fell on my lap
unexpectedly. I have not looked back since. When Peewee started
showing up once again in the very recent ExCons, I saw it fit that he
deserved to organize VIVA in Roxas. It was his baby after all. A year
prior to VIVA Roxas in 2017, I, along with several artists traveled to
Roxas City to check on their infrastructure and possible venues for
the conference, like I always do for each VIVA in different islands
in the past. It was at this time when Peewee revealed to me and a
few others, that the Black Artists in Asia that founded VIVA ExCon
was founded back in 1990 because of his personal involvement
with a leftist group. An organization had to be born to legitimize
black propaganda against the government then. This revelation
came as a shock to me, not to mention an insult and a betrayal of
friendship since I was made to believe that VIVA was made for the
simple reason that we wanted to bridge the Visayan Islands through
exhibitions and conferences and find a voice in the contemporary
art scene in the country. It was then clear to me that the reason he
abandoned VIVA ExCon was because it was not going according to
his plan. When VIVA Roxas finally happened in 2018, he persisted
with his agenda at the 3rd day forum wherein he wanted VIVA
ExCon to be of socio-political leaning, citing the Escalante incident
that happened just months before and that artists should make a
stand. When it was my turn to speak, I gave the audience a piece of
my mind and heart, saying to them that it was not my call where
the artists want to bring their art… to the left or to the right. Many
things happened in this VIVA. Roldan also revealed that he stole a
letterhead from the Cultural Center of the Philippines for a letter to
invite the Japanese delegation in the second VIVA. Even National
Artist for Cinema Kidlat Tahimik mentioned that it was a criminal
thing to do, stealing and falsification of documents. Another thing
I observed was that the local artists were relegated to working on
the sidelines while a team from Manila which Peewee brought
was running the show. Maybe it was their strategy to reinforce the
organization. Garbo sa Bisaya was cancelled due to the implications
of the word Garbo in the local dialect. The conference was attended
by Visayan artists, students, people coming from Luzon mostly,
and international personalities. The exhibition happened in a
gymnasium, the museum, and public buildings, the plaza, and near
the beach.
VIVA has existed for 28 years because we believed in its cause and
that is, just as I have believed in since 1990, to bridge the Visayan
Islands through art. At that time, I already thought VIVA would be
divided and come 2020, it would probably be the last. And so for
its 30th year, it should be hosted by Bacolod once again and rightly
so because history started there.
To be precarious is to be ready for whatever the future holds. Who
would have thought that 2020 would be such a terrible year? No
one. VIVA was always a time for the celebration of Visayan Art.
Back in VIVA ExCon Roxas 2018 when I was questioned about
what 2020 would be like, I answered that it would be a blank
canvas. I felt like it was somewhat prophetic. The pandemic came
and indeed, it became a blank canvas. No one knew what to do
when the pandemic hit. The 4-year plan for VIVA ExCon’s 30th
Year went down the drain, the excitement died and fear settled in.
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