Deep Thoughts over “Zero in Periphery”

Paintings, sculptures and photos, maaaring magkaiba sila ng pamamaraan ng paggawa at hitsura pero mayroon silang iisang bagay na pareho at iyon ay mayroon silang message na gustong i-communicate sa tao. Pero paano kung ang mensaheng gustong i-abot sa mga tao ay isang bagay na maaaring makapagbago ng views nila sa buhay? Zero in Periphery ito ang tawag sa isang exhibit na makikita sa Ateneo Art Gallery at sa apat na museum dito sa bansa; Ayala Museum, Bahay Tsinoy, Lopez Memorial Museum, at Museo Pambata. To make the idea simple, ang concept ng Zero in Periphery ay pagbibigay pansin sa mga bagay na usually hindi natin nakikita, napapansin or naisasantabi na lang because of two reasons, it is not that popular or it is presented to us as part of our culture which I’ll be discussing sa blog entry na ito.

When we say periphery, the synonym of that word are fringe and edge. Like the word edge which means provocative or discomforting quality, most of us we are used of seeing lovely paintings and photos like portrait and scenic canvas, but at the Lopez Memorial Museum paintings shows pain, anger and rage at the group Social Realists. The painting represents the harsh look of poverty, hunger and greed for power na makikita mo sa gawa ni Al Manrique. These are things that we skip because of our everyday busy lives, the gruesome and painful situation of poverty and hunger in the country where the fact is that there people really lives under bridges, inside the tunnel and on push carts and trying to survive in a less than a dollar budget which includes 2 meal a day this one stated on the research on United Nation Millennium Report. Through the paintings as the Social Realists I hope it may strike the youth to be aware on the current situation of society.

Periphery is also the same with the words fringe which I define as a not conventional in form. And who can say that trapo or basahan can be considered as an art, and it was shown on Poklong Anading’s presentation at the Ateneo Art Gallery with the use of trapo or basahan she makes some visuals that will blend on the subject which is the basahan. Anading creates an art from what is conventionally a housemaid’s cleaning tool to something unconventionally beautiful and artistic with proper lighting, color blending and proper visualization. There is a variety of visual arts in Ateneo Art Gallery for the Beyond Frame: Philippine Photomedia exhibit for the Zero in Periphery.

After Periphery, we also use the term Zero in which is similar to three words, converge, aim and adjust. When we say zero in pertaining to gun, we are adjusted by history and situations we encounter, these are the things that Bahay Tsinoy, Museum of Chinese in the Philippines offers. Stories as told by those who witnessed and survived the dark days brought by war, all documented and presented at the Bahay Tsinoy’s Remembering collection.

Our aim is to learn culture and arts, pero bukod sa kulturang Pinoy, Ayala Museum offers a variety of ceramic arts done by different artist all over Asia. Countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines for The Ring of Fire: The First Southeast Asian Ceramics Festival.

Lastly when we Zero in, we say converge, we touch and unite the lives of children in the Invisible Children gallery of Museo Pambata, these are children who lives their life fighting for another day to live. These are children who grow not ordinary like other who can play and go to school. They working children, the children with disabilities, the children caught in armed conflict, the children affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS, the children living in the streets, the prostituted children, the indigenous, the malnourished and the abused. Ito ang mga batang nangangailangan ng pag unawa, pag iintindi, respeto at pagmamahal, dahil ito ang mga batang simula nang kanilang pagkamulat ay ipinagkait na ang kanilang mga karapatan as stated by the Convention of the Rights of the Children which includes peaceful living, proper education, right to play and enjoy life and safe from any form of abuse. These are the things that Museo Pambata offers, an eye opener the current situation of the youth, who will be the future citizen of the country.

Zero in Periphery serves as an eye opener for us to acknowledge the past and history and learn from it, to comprehend the symbols and warnings in the present, and to act accordingly what should not be done on the future. Things that we should learn are not always in the center or popular topic, we should converge to the periphery and if only we zero in we will learn a lot.