DEC13_SUPERDUPERFINAL

And Then
by Patrick Flores
VIVA ExCon, one of the most sustained artist-initiated biennales
in Southeast Asia, organized its 16th iteration in Bacolod City in
Negros Occidental. It opened on November 8, 2020 and evolved
patiently in phases until December 2021 for a hybrid exhibition
and discursive program. Formed in part in 1990 by the collective
Black Artists in Asia along with other groups and institutions, the
ambulant VIVA ExCon has since then striven to carve out a space
and perspective for artists in the central Philippine islands of the
Visayas. Through its efforts to foster an inter-island ecology distinct,
albeit not isolated from, the art world in the capital of Manila,
VIVA ExCon across thirty years has achieved a collaborative and
participatory ethos of art making, mutual support, and solidarity
unique in the Philippine archipelago. Facing the prospects of the
future, it held up in 2020 the name Dasun, a Hiligaynon word that
means “next” and an idiosyncratic connective in everyday language
to signify “and then.” It thus speculates on the things to come as it
narrates stories of an ever-turning present.
For the 2020 iteration of VIVA ExCon, I was appointed the head
curator and decided to work with six curators from the region. The
six curators were Mars Briones, Guenivere Decena, Jay Nathan Jore,
Liby Limoso, Nomar Miano, and Maria Taniguchi. The curatorium
selected the following artists: AR. SCULPTURA and EyeCan
Creatives; Charles Buenconsejo; Denli Chavez; Farida Kabayao, Ron
Espinosa, & TM Malones; Gabi Nazareno; Joar Songcuya; Joshua
Serafin; Lani Maestro; Leo Abaya; Mona Alcudia; Paolo Amascual;
Perry Argel; Regional Art Forum; Retired Artist; Rhine Bernardino;
RV Sanchez; Soika Vomiter; and Solitaryo Cinco (Khriss Bajade,
Bastinuod, Mark “KDLT” Copino, John Villoria).
Figure Drawings: Structures and Gestures
RV Sanchez work
Alongside collateral presentations and archives, VIVA ExCon,
chaired by the visual artist Charlie Co and directed by the inter-media
practitioner Manny Montelibano, organized as well exhibitions on
artists from the province of Negros Occidental who have enriched
the cultural field of the Visayas and beyond. They were Nunelucio
Alvarado, Brenda Fajardo, Leandro Locsin, and Lino Severino.
The exhibition component of VIVA ExCon 2020 titled Kalibutan:
The World in Mind took inspiration from the Visayan word
kalibutan, which refers to both the world and consciousness. It is
a dense and intricate term because it brings together world-making
and worldview. The world is embodied, on the one hand, and the
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