Celebrating 50 golden years of BenCab’s visual arts

Note:  This photo-essay was in the 'living' section of the 26 Jun - 02 Jul 2015 issue of FilAm Star, the weekly 'newspaper for Filipinos in mainstream America' published in San Francisco, CA. This author/blogger is the Manila-based special news/photo correspondent of the paper.

National Artist BenCab in front of Soldiers (Heroes of the Past IV),
his work in the Lopez Museum and Library collection.

It’s been fifty years since National Artist Benedicto Reyes Cabrera, the popular BenCab, had his first exhibit in a three-man show at the Art Association of the Philippines Gallery. The next year, 1966, he was 24, and he had his first solo exhibition of oil and acrylic paintings at the Indigo Gallery in Mabini.  In celebration of his half-a-century of art practice, these three exhibitions are ongoing for public appreciation of his achievements: Frames of Reference at the Lopez Museum and Library (until 04 July 2015), BenCab in Multiples: A Print Retrospective at the CCP Main Gallery (until 16 August 2015), and Ode to the Flag at the BenCab Museum in Benguet (until 02 August 2015).

The Philippine Ballet Theatre (PBT) has staged 'Sabel: Love and Passion', a musical inspired by BenCab's Sabel, his most iconic subject, with music by Louie Ocampo, and book and lyrics by Freddie Santos. She also inspired Agnes Locsin, back in 2010, to create the dance 'Sayaw, Sabel.'

Sabel, 2005

The Sabel theme can be seen in various transformations in the artist's paintings and prints. She dates back to 1964 when she was a bag lady, a scavenger that he observed and sketched from the window of their family house in Bambang in Tondo. To BenCab, according to the BenCab Museum webpage, Sabel is "a symbol of dislocation, despair and isolation - the personification of human dignity threatened by circumstances."

Sabel is not the only element of BenCab's personal interest that permeates his art.

The Frames of Reference exhibits enable us to look at BenCab as artist (photographer, painter, printmaker), lover, family man, bibliophile and collector of historical and cultural artifacts. 

Glimpses into BenCab’s life can be gleaned from about 15 of his art-books that comprise compilations of collages (clippings and cut-outs), drawings and sketches interspersed with his handwritten notes. These prominently feature his love for nostalgia, handmade paper and bookbinding. His small scrapbooks look like diaries containing his aesthetics, letters, mementos and other keepsakes.  

Rizal’s and Leonor’s Letters. 1998. 

Lopez Museum & Library Collection.

His other hand-crafted books show early studies and iterations of some of his most important series of works: Sabel, Larawan and Japanese Women (ukiyo-e). Also on exhibit are his early folios of prints he was a part of, along with other Filipino and foreign artists.

We had an amusing time poring through BenCab’s notes, scribbles, and studies, which he did in a playful or studied manner, by using a magnifying glass or viewing the enlarged screen images of pages of his digitized art-books: Embossed Prints, Book of Collages, Small Prints, and An English Scrapbook. 

Among the Collages was one of Ninoy Aquino with the Philippine flag and the date Agosto 21, probably his memento of his participation in the EDSA  I revolt. We chuckled when we saw a picture of Stalin among those he clipped from newspapers in his English Scrapbook.

Postcard to Annie Sarthou, 08 Feb 1988.

We were delighted listening to him in his two postcards dated February 1988, one with a sketch of himself in a crowd in freezing London, and the other, carrying in the cold a painting. He was speaking of his anxieties in setting up his art exhibition (carpentry work, framing, invitations, guests list, etc) at the October Gallery in London. And here he is being very  fatherly: “The kids are doing fine. Mayumi might do a front cover for Elle Mag. I have to think of what to give to Jasmine for her birthday. She is learning piano. Elisar and I share the evening usually. After cooking meals for him, I watch TV. But usually his choices. Also got hook on his comic books.” 

That exhibit was of his Recent Works that included ‘America Is in the Heart,’ a large painting in oil, “inspired by Carlos Bulosan’s autobiography which describes the racial discrimination against Filipinos in the United States.”

1081. Print, 1975.

He was actually returning to London in 1988.  He had been back for good in 1986 and chose to stay in Baguio.  He arrived in time for the EDSA Revolution, which he chronicled with a painting of two women standing in a rain of yellow confetti.

BenCab’s large Soldiers (Heroes of the Past IV) painting in the Lopez Museum and Library Collection,  which he did in 1998 with charcoal, chalk, acrylic on hand-made paper, reminded us that we have seen the two historical pictures, which  inspired the work.

The biography cited earlier tells us that “a turning point in his work is his discovery of rare Filipiniana prints and photographs in London’s antiquarian bookshops.” Filipiniana materials such as photographs, maps, prints, and illustrated travelogues inspired him to start Larawan series comprising portraits of the Filipina in 19th century attire, nostalgic images of colonial Philippines, Filipino migrants, expatriates and exiles, that explored “themes of cultural alienation and spiritual distancing.”

Painting detail echoing the From Hillsman to Sergeant theme
of a 1978 print.

His other collections comprise Cordillera artifacts like the bulol (representation of the rice god) and tabayag (carved lime container for the areca leaf chewable), among others.  These are housed at the BenCab Museum in Tuba, Benguet, which can easily be reached from Baguio City. 

The Cordillera people and its culture have also been subjects of the national artist’s paintings and prints. He has also documented the Cordillera insurgency. 

In his Ode to the Flag exhibit at the BenCab Museum, the national artist portrays the "flag -- draped, wrapped and displayed with the likes of Andres Bonifacio ... [and] on anonymous human forms that are not seen, suggesting the countless, nameless Filipinos who fought for freedom." It also reminds "that the fight is not yet over, and suggests that our flag, as yet, does not fly in skies that are truly free." This affirms why he has been called an "artist-activist."

Pictures of BenCab’s paintings in the Ode to the Flag exhibit.  (From the BenCab Museum Facebook album).

In 2006, he was conferred the Order of National Artist for Visual Arts by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The citations he received when he was conferred the degree of Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa, by his alma mater, the University of the Philippines, in 2009, basically sum up his achievements in 50 golden years: "his incisive contribution to Philippine Art, lavishly expressed in a visual granary of Filipino imagery, gleaned from the country's inspiring historic past to the penetrating banalities of contemporary art ... and for his pioneering work to uphold the cultural being of the country's indigenous peoples and for spearheading initiatives to benefit the cultural, economic and social life of the underprivileged."

Was there a Negative Nora Aunor Effect on President Aquino’s Approval Rating?

Note: This photo-essay appeared in a slightly different form in the 18-24 July 2014 issue of the FilAm Star, the weekly 'newspaper for Filipinos in mainstream America' published in San Francisco, CA.  This author/blogger is the Special News/Photo Correspondent of the paper in the Philippines.

A fan with a framed autographed picture of his idol.

Typhoon Glenda (Rammasun), the strongest storm so far to hit the Philippines, left Metro Manila late morning Wednesday, 16 July, with a power blackout that lasted till the first hour of Thursday.

The Glenda effect as monitored by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and other government agencies may be in the fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno Simeon Cojuanco Aquino III on 28 July 2014.  After all, he met with the Council the day before the storm, and he was reported to have expressed satisfaction on the preparedness of all concerned agencies.

For sure, the SONA will highlight the controversial PDAF (the discretionary Priority Development Fund available to members of Congress), and the DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program, which the Department of Budget and Management defined as a “stimulus package under the Aquino administration designed to fast-track public spending and push economic growth”).  

On 01 July,  the Supreme Court unanimously declared key portions of the DAP unconstitutional: the creation of savings prior to the end of the fiscal year and their withdrawal for implementing agencies, the “cross-border” transfers of savings from one government branch to another, and the allotment of funds for items not found in the General Appropriations Act.

The impact of the SC decision on public opinion through the media and the social networks had President Aquino deliver a national address on Monday, 14 July, to explain his side to his constituents (mga minamahal ko pong kabababyan, ang aking mga Boss"). He said that they will file a motion for reconsideration before the high tribunal.

The presidential address drew mixed reactions but many believed that they have not felt any of the benefits that are supposed to trickle down from the DAP. The negative reaction added to the public dismay on Aquino's rejection of the resignation letter of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad during the Cabinet meeting on 12 July.

01 July was also the day Aquino explained why he rejected the nomination of Nora Aunor as National Artist for film. There was public uproar for an explanation after her exclusion from the list recommended by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) to receive the Order of National Artists award.

Although he expressed admiration for Aunor’s acting ability and her Cinderella story, he admitted that the reason was drugs:  “naconvict po sya sa drugs,” he reportedly emphasized.  Her lawyer in the United States was quick to retort that she was never convicted of a crime involving drugs in Los Angeles.  

In some way, Nora Aunor was a typhoon that hit Malacañang.

National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera & TOWNS awardee
Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan go through the Supreme Court
decision on the National Artists controversy of 2009.

While she is now enjoying the overflow of support from fans and various sectors—two forums have been held in Ateneo de Manila and the University of the Philippines, for example, she appears to have contributed to the drop in the approval rating of President Aquino for the second quarter of 2014.

On the same day that he addressed the nation on the DAP controversy, Pulse Asia Research, Inc. also shared their findings on Presidential Performance and Trust Ratings from the June 2014 Ulat ng Bayan national survey. 

The Pulse Asia summary reads: “ A little over one in 10 Filipinos (14%) expresses disapproval for the work done by the President in the past three months as well as distrust in him. Presidential disapproval scores range from 7% to 18% in the different geographic locations and from 12% to 22% across socio-economic groupings. In terms of distrust figures, they vary from 9% to 17% across geographic areas and from 12% to 24% across socio-economic classes. Residents of Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon as well as those in Class ABC are most critical of President Aquino (17% to 22%) and most inclined to distrust him (17% to 24%). These figures do not differ in any significant way from those posted by President Aquino in March 2014 at the national level as well as across geographic areas and socio-economic classes.”

This is the result of survey fieldwork using face-to-face interviews from 24 June 24 to 02 July 2014. According to Pulse Asia, this was the period when the Filipinos were preoccupied with various issues most of which pertain to the PDAF and the Janet Napoles court cases. 

Pulse Asia listed 13 issues.  Item 4 is “(t)he decision issued by the Supreme Court (SC) declaring several acts under the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) as unconstitutional for violating the doctrine of separation of powers and the constitutional provision which prohibits the inter-branch transfer of appropriations;” and item 12 is “(t)he controversial decision of President Aquino to reject the nomination of Ms. Nora Aunor as National Artist for Film.”

Poster photo courtesy of the Nora Aunor
for National Artist Movement.

The SC decision could not have been the contributing factor since it came at the end of the survey period.  Surely, the controversial PDAF and Napoles cases were the significant influences in the negative responses of interviewees in the survey.

It is possible that there was a negative Nora Effect on the Aquino’s approval rating.

In fact, the Nora Aunor for National Artist Movement is sustaining support for her through a signature campaign. The target is one million signatures hopefully to be gathered so that she can be proclaimed in a public gathering as the “Pambansang Artista ng Mamamayan” before or after the official proclamation in Malacañang of Alice Reyes, Cirilo Bautista, Francisco Coching, Feliciano Francisco, Ramon Santos and Jose Maria Zaragoza as National Artists. 

Where are Guillermo Tolentino's "Rizal's Dreams" and other patriotic works?

Guillermo Tolentino could have created "Rizal's Dreams" when he was still a student at the Royal Italian Academy of Fine Arts or when he had just graduated from there with honors.  A young Filipina woman looking far away was his sculptural interpretation of the fourth stanza of the national hero's Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell) --

Mis sueños cuando apenas muchacho adolescente,
Mis sueños cuando joven ya lleno de vigor,
Fueron el verte un día, joya del mar de oriente
Secos los negros ojos, alta la tersa frente,
Sin ceño, sin arrugas, sin manchas de rubor.

My dreams, when life first opened to me,
My dreams, when the hopes of youth beat high,
Were to see thy loved face, O gem of the Orient Sea,
From gloom and grief, from care and sorrow free;
No blush on thy brow, no tear in thine   eye.
          -  Tr. by Charles Derbyshire, 1911.

Tolentino could have included this work in his sculpture exhibition that opened at the Casa d'Arte in Rome on April 24, 1924.  It was reported that "the Royal Princesses, Giovanna and Mafalda, paid Tolentino the honor of attending his exhibition, and were lavish in their praises of his work, obtaining for the young Filipino sculptor considerable favourable publicity in the Rome newspapers and art journals."

We have not yet seen any reference to this inspired creation in existing webpages about the National Artists of the Philippines, in general, or Guillermo Tolentino, in particular. 

Except for an article in The Philippine Republic (1924), there is nothing else also on the "Peace" statue that he did while he was a waiter in Washington DC to commemorate American President Woodrow Wilson's struggle for peace, and which he presented to the president himself on August 21, 1921.  

Millinoire Bernard Baruch was inspired to send the struggling Filipino artist to study in Italy after Wilson showed him the art piece. He paid for Tolentino's expenses there for two years. 

Neither are there references to his patriotic creations in Rome that could have been in his public exhibition there in 1924 like "The Philippine Republic" and "The Filipinos."  The first one had three figures, one of them representing a Filipina and the other two, the forces that saved the Philippines from the Spaniards. Tolentino intended this for consideration in a proposed monument in Malolos, Bulacan to commemorate the short-lived republic.  The second piece represented "a group of powerful Filipinos, who by their united strength, are able to successfully carry a great rock on which appears in bas relief a map of the Philippine Islands."

Tolentino could also have carved "The Philippines" in Rome, it's picture was in the cover of the January 1924 issue of The Philippine Republic.  The caption said that it was "the creation of a young Filipino sculptor, Guillermo Tolentino. He molded it with loving hands, inspired by the hope it might prove (sic) an urge to the American Congress to grant his country’s independence."

After his graduation in Italy, Tolentino made plans to go home to the Philippines soonest and possibly put up an exhibition in Manila.  It would be very interesting to know if the works exhibited in Casa d'Arte in Rome came home with him, and if they did, where are they now?

A report said that "Tolentino has been made a tentative proposition to design an elaborate and costly chapel and monument to be erected in the Manila Cemetery for one of the most prominent and wealthy families of the Philippines."   This could not have pushed through because there are no citations of it in any Tolentino literature.  Otherwise this would be listed alongside his popular statues -- the Oblation of the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Bonifacio monument in Caloocan City.

The Oblation, dedicated at the original UP site in Manila in 1939, was inspired by the second verse in Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios --

          En campos de batalla, luchando con delirio
          Otros te dan sus vidas sin dudas, sin pesar;
          El sitio nada importa, ciprés, laurel ó lirio,
          Cadalso ó campo abierto, combate ó cruel martirio,
          Lo mismo es si lo piden la patria y el hogar.

          On the field of battle, 'mid the frenzy of fight,
          Others have given their lives, without doubt or heed;

          The place matters not-cypress or laurel or lily white,

          Scaffold or open plain, combat or martyrdom's plight,
          'Tis ever the same, to serve our home and country's need.

                -  Tr. by Charles Derbyshire, 1911.

What we see today at the back of the pedestal are not these inspirational verses in Spanish or English.  It's Rizal speaking in Pilipino through the translation (pagsasalin) of Andres Bonifacio:

Saan man mautas ay di kailangan,
cipres o laurel, lirio ma'y patungan
pakikipaghamok, at ang bibitayan,
yaon ay gayon din kung hiling ng Bayan.

Here in these sculptures, we see Tolentino portraying a Motherland as a young Filipina embodying Rizal's dreams, happy after being freed from Spanish tyranny and yet fettered in struggling for independence from the United States, and her native son offering his life for country and people.

There has been a very wide gulf of changes since Tolentino's patriotic statements in stone, marble or bronze. Are they still relevant to ponder as the May 2010 election approaches.  Has the Motherland achieved her dreams? Is she happy--or frustrated--with her sons?

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Note:  Except for the picture of the UP Oblation, which we took ourselves, all the other illustrations and historical information in this article about National Artist Guillermo Tolentino were taken from articles in the January, May and August-September 1924 issues of The Philippine Republic, a magazine published in Washington DC.