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By Tey Sevilleno





“Negros is not just an enchanted kingdom from a fairy tale. It is alive and I am so happy to be
cast in it.”

I love Negros! This summed up my longing to go home to my island Negros a few years back, when suddenly it seemed I’d been gone for far too long. We are always told to fly out of our nests and spread our wings. But when I was in Manila building a career in a large corporation, I was constantly thinking of Bacolod and Negros, and everything that is in here.




While still at work in my office, I would daydream for days at the beach, chasing sunsets and the waves. Pictures weren’t enough for me. I had to make things up from memory. That was when I picked up a brush and some watercolors to paint sunsets and landscapes. I painted the landscape that my heart and soul yearned for back home. The majestic Kanlaon volcano and the endless plains of sugarcane were my usual subjects. Memories of fields of fire and smoke with a backdrop of a magical sunset haunted me. I painted that, in fact several times.

After a few months of daily painting, I mounted my first show by invite. I called on friends and family who were in Manila and their enthusiastic response told me I just had to go home. It wasn’t a dilemma anymore but a sure decision.




Packed my bags and shoved all my art stuff and flew home. With this love for Negros, I felt reborn with a new set of eyes, mind, and heart because I saw everything with all its facets. One normal day, I drove my friend to Banago port to take the “RoRo” ferry back to Iloilo. And as I turned back, a background of a vibrant orange sky and the raging golden sun hit the shanties from afar. It was amazing! When I went home I rushed to paint what I saw and felt at that moment—the shanties reflected the sun and the colors were shockingly bright, their stilts formed remarkable shadows beneath the many “balay-balay”, and there were a few boats preparing to go out fishing. It was magic! That must have been one of my most vivid memories. Banago became my inspiration for my Stilts series.

Not only do places inspire me, but here in Negros, people do as well. I will never fail to thank my mosaic guru, designer Gigi Campos. I am totally inspired by her art and her passion for design and for life itself. And of course, veteran artist Rodney Martinez who I highly respect and consider my mentor in art. He supported me and encouraged me to grow, and try out new things. He is someone I would want to be “when I grow up”.  I know that in Negros there are many artists in different disciplines—visual arts, design, fashion, theater, film, architecture, gastronomy. That’s why I love it here even more. Negros is not just an enchanted kingdom from a fairy tale. It is alive and I am so happy to be cast in it.




I knew then, and now, that home is where my heart and art is. “Ang akon isla” Negros.

Editor’s Note: The artist has since infected many with her love for painting. She conducts art classes and has inspired a few journeys. Her works are actively exhibited in venues in Negros and she maintains an online shop (inARTey) for her works. For more on her artistry get intouch with her through social media. Facebook @TeySev; Instagram @tey.sev; Twitter @TeyTeySev.

Paquit: “You know, it was a long time before Marie began to talk.”
Marie: “It was Esther who was my yaya, very quiet.”




We have found many ways of preserving images of the past, but nothing captures the nostalgia of one’s childhood more hauntingly than cyanotype. Wikipedia defines cyanotype as a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print. Its discovery in 1842 is attributed to Sir John Herschel, an English scientist and astronomer. Cyanotype looks very much like the blueprint that architects and building engineers use.

 

After 39 years in the United States, Angela Silva and her husband, Chris Juricich, returned to Negros from Berkeley, California. It was then that Angela embarked on a new career as a printmaker and a visual artist using cyanotype photography. “I combine my love of vintage Filipiniana and real photo postcards with printmaking and collage. My antiquarian sensibility layers rare photographs and studio portraits with maps and ephemera to denote a sense of time and place. In my work, I also explore identity and memory by combining found vernacular photographs with remembered stories,” says Angela. This includes ordinary, everyday photos and recollections from family members as well as her own.

Luckily for Angela, she comes with illustrious history. Her maternal lineage of the Javellana-Ledesma families provides abundant memorabilia, many of which have been tapped as subjects for Angela’s cyanotype projects. “Shadow Mothers” (Orange Project 2019, The Negros Museum 2020), pays tribute to the role of “yayas” or live-in baby sitters in the Negrense culture. These endeared women took care of children while the real mothers helped in the running of the hacienda or attended to social obligations. Angela shares, “I am interested in studying the mother-and-child pose as recorded in photos of biological mothers and attendant mothers…the stories of intimate history behind them—the mothering, the nurturing, and the subsequent separation between the women and the children they held with such pride and love.”




A larger cast of characters is had in Angela’s work “Juan and Nena 1926-1927”, where the artist chronicles the yearlong courtship of her grandparents, Juan Ledesma and Magdalena “Nena” Javellana. The final work, four volumes of postcard-size photo albums, track the travels of 10 cousins and friends onboard cruise ships to North America, South America, and Europe. Nena starts the voyage with two suitors and returns home engaged to Juan—a titanic love story on its own. But this masterpiece reaches beyond recounting a private family anecdote. It reflects a period in the existence of Negrenses that has defined the place and its people. And many times, stories like this cement a community’s pride in its cultural heritage. It is Angela’s duty to recapture those snippets of travel and courtship as authentically as possible.

That cyanotype as a form of alternative photography predates the film camera commands emotional connection. Angela produces the monochromatic blue image on archival quality paper to achieve a feeling of timelessness. And because it looks very much like a blueprint, it brings the art enthusiast to the very beginning of things, the starting point, the plot of a narrative about to unfold. Cyanotype, does indeed, romance the past to make it relevant once more.

Angela Silva currently works on new cyanotype projects, including one using old passports. View what she’s up to at IG@alegnaavlis and on Facebook: Angela Silva.

Slow Food Negros:
Heritage Food Stays Afloat

Without sounding biblical, the Ark of Taste of Slow Food International is a repository of heritage food ingredients created to preserve them against extinction. According to a press release from Slow Food Negros, there are several Negrense ingredients registered in the ark, among them, the Darag Chicken (our native chicken), Adlai, Batwan, Marang, Kadios, Warty Pig, and Criolla Cacao.

Slow Food Negros takes inspiration from Slow Food International, an organization founded by Italian Carlos Petrini in the late 1980s. Its website shares, “Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization, founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us.” (www.slowfood.com)



From Oct. 30, 2020, to April 2021, the slow food movement will celebrate the Terra Salone del Gusto in Turin, Italy. The press release said, advocates from 160 countries come together in this biennial event to learn from talks as well as exhibits. Times have changed but the commitment remains. Notwithstanding the pandemic, many topics reminiscent of long-held traditions will be revisited in virtual talks, including preserving food sources, seeds endemic to particular places, and traditional farming practices. Reena Gamboa, Slow Food Negros president, says, “I am a farmer myself, and I do realize the importance of taking care of earth’s blessings and going back to the basics. Food production is taken for granted and farmers always get the least attention in this world of digitalization and information technology.”



 

That’s about to change. This time Terra Madre will be on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram running talks and events, exploring traditional food possibilities under the theme, “Our Food, Our Planet, Our Future”.

In step with the times the press release said, “…preservation of local food cultures and traditions is important not only for historical and sociological purposes but also for a balanced local biodiversity and food security in our nation. This COVID pandemic is an opportunity to open the eyes of our fellow Filipinos in nurturing plants and animals that are indigenous to our country.”

 A kitchen serves up Negrense heritage



The new normal has started. It is a world where people step out with caution and awareness and responsibility. A world quite unlike our get-up-and-go carefree ways just lived months ago. Come to think of it, the wisdom to embrace challenges and innovate has been a hallmark of Negrense resilience through crises over centuries. And while this pandemic might be a heavier burden to pull, trust Negrenses to find their emotional tug, inhale, and heave-ho.

In Negros, a house teeming with heritage, from the front door to the kitchen, is making a unique mark in this countryside restaurant landscape. The historic Casa A. Gamboa in Silay City, Negros Occidental, has opened its doors to intimate group dining reservations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all meals in-between. Its veteran kitchen, repository of cooking secrets admired through the years, is again abuzz.



 

Once visited by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the house and its sprawling garden, Jardin de Alicia, were built in 1939 by Aguinaldo Severino Gamboa and his wife, Dr. Alicia Lucero Gamboa. Its Old World charm lends to soulful, hearty, even nostalgic dishes, many coming out of heritage recipes. For years too, Jardin de Alicia has played host to the annual Adobo Festival. While the event has been temporarily put on hold due to the pandemic, a menu of delectable, insightful adobo dishes is to be expected in the offering.





 

The food experience begins with a painstakingly designed table setting that, by itself, is a feast for the eyes. Reservations are requested three days in advance so guests can plan their meals using farm-fresh, market-fresh ingredients in season. The menu is specially put together by the family matriarch who holds nothing but the highest standards in quality and taste. It is then meticulously executed by a seasoned kitchen staff.

For everyone’s health and peace of mind, Casa A. Gamboa accepts reservations from four to 15 guests only. Masks and shields are required, and guests may choose to dine at the open balcony, the airy dining room, or al fresco out in the garden, should the weather permit. Those who wish to experience dining on heritage cuisine straight out of a heritage home may visit its Facebook Page, Casa A. Gamboa.

Text by Alan S. Gensoli. Photos courtesy Reena Gamboa.

By Mike Claparols

Balancing environment, economy, and ethics in product innovation.


Since 2008, Mike and Banj Claparols of Creative Definitions have dedicated themselves to providing world-class Negrense products in the local market, continuously striving to innovate and open more opportunities for its producers. Almost a decade later, they made a major shift by becoming a social enterprise when they partnered with several weaving communities on Negros Island. The collaborations aim to achieve long-term sustainability not only for Creative Definitions but also for the communities. This can only be possible if certain practices are adopted, such as the use of indigenous natural materials, fair trade, ethical marketing, design innovation, as well as taking into account environmental and cultural influences. Putting it simply, sustainability means that there should be a balance between the environment, the economy, and ethics.

The writer, Mike Claparols (seated second from left), with Fr. Brian Gore (seated third from left), Banj Claparols (standing, leftmost) and members of the Negros 9 Weavers of Kabankalan.

The first of these partnerships was established in 2017 with the Negros 9 Kabankalan Weavers. Living in a remote area in the mountains of Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, the weavers were organized in 2014 by Fr. Brian Gore and other members of the community in Barangay Sitio Bantolinao, to create a steady source of income and improve the community’s fledgling weaving industry. Their craftsmanship and commitment attracted the attention of Creative Definitions and a partnership was arranged to help the group with product development and marketing. From nine weavers, the Negros 9 has grown to 13 weavers. Other groups have lent support. The Loom Project donated four handlooms and another two came from Artefino’s Heartefino Project. Today, the handwoven products of the Negros 9 are exclusively marketed by Creative Definitions in Manila and the international market.

The following year, another weaving group, also in Kabankalan, caught the notice of Creative Definitions. The Oringao Abaca Handloom Weavers Association was originally set up with assistance from the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Trade and Industry. In 2018, Creative Definitions and the weavers went into a partnership agreement to undertake a trial project to weave fabrics made of Philippine cotton. There are currently three active weavers in this community.

In 2019, Creative Definitions partnered with a master weaver from a nearby town in Negros Occidental. Helen Managuit of Valladolid comes from a family of weavers and claims that her mother taught her the unique weave patterns never before seen in other weaving communities. Creative Definitions assists Helen in opening new markets and increasing production capacity. With the assistance of Creative Definitions, three new looms were acquired as Helen plans to teach new weavers in her community.

Crossing the mountains in 2019, Creative Definitions partnered with another dynamic group of weavers, this time from Bacong town in Negros Oriental. The Bacong Weavers of Negros Oriental specialize in sinamay weaving using an indigenous abaca variety. Currently, product development is being done to weave fabrics that combine cotton and abaca fibers.

Creative Definitions has found a viable business model in balancing environment, economy, and ethics. The social enterprise’s continued search for new materials and production techniques has led to unique sustainable products, like handwoven fabrics that are 100% made of cotton. In the near future, Creative Definitions will also introduce handwoven fabrics made of blended yarns from cotton, pineapple, abaca, bamboo, and banana. More interestingly, it will introduce sustainable handwoven fabrics with water repellence and anti-microbial properties using the SMARTEX technology, in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology.

 --------------

Lakat Sustainable Footwear

This is an output of Creative Definitions’ collaboration with the Negros 9 weavers. By experimenting with locally-sourced natural fibers like coco coir for the inner sole, by using recycled materials like rubber tires for the outer sole, and by tapping the craftsmanship of gifted Marikina shoemakers, Creative Definitions has produced its own line of sustainable footwear. Lakat Sustainables is a line of hand sewn shoes, inspired by the advocacy of improving people’s lives in partner communities.

Lakat Sustainables will initially be made of cotton fabric. This will be followed by cotton blended with abaca or pineapple fibers. With the help of the Philippine Textile Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Creative Definitions is undertaking research in the use of other fibers, including banana, maguey, bamboo, and sugarcane bagasse.


Photos courtesy Creative Definitions.

 Creativity is the flywheel that gives us the momentum to move forward—forward and out of a catatonic state. In fact, as an enterprise concept, innovation is also called commercial creativity. With creativity we are able to innovate and nudge ourselves out of a slowdown, just like the slowdown that resulted from COVID-19 quarantine orders.Thankfully, creativity is second skin to artists, so many of them used the time to incubate new ideas.

Spaces once overlooked became canvases for artistic exploration. Negrense mosaic artist Lisa de Leon-Zayco trained her sight on their home garden which, by then, was verdant with fruit trees and decorative plants, all owed to her green-thumbed husband, Nonoy. The garden was increasingly becoming a popular extension of the family’s living space, welcoming kin and kindred spirits.

Artist Lisa de Leon-Zayco and her husband Nonoy

Lisa thought of tucking in a bohemian water closet in the lush greenery. A call for empty liquor bottles was made on Facebook, and since the prohibition was back in style, friends obliged. Lisa mosaicked whole bottles into walls. On a bright cloudless day, the walls filter the sun in in beams of ochre, moss, burgundy, indigo, and translucent crystal. Rustic elements, from lighting fixtures to faucets, some found items and some bespoke pieces, pursue the same bohemian peg, unconventional, innovative, and yes, creative.

Lisa calls this art project Nirvana, a happy place. Here she shares happiness and space with art objects not her own. The washbasin is by pottery artist Lanelle Abueva-Fernando, and the abstract painting is by her son, Miko Zayco. She confesses, Nirvana is an ode to “kindness, compassion, and gratitude”, an unshakable tripod of values she prays family, friends, and fellow artists will always have. And though not carved in stone, they are inscribed in a note and sealed in one of the bottles. “This is my message in a bottle, that in times of unnerving worry, we have to hang on to values that evoke humane-ness. In my case, kindness for being, compassion for others, gratitude for art,” Lisa says.

For more on Lisa’s works, check her Facebook Page, Lisa de Leon-Zayco Mosaics.


Text by Alan Gensoli.  Photos courtesy of Lisa de Leon-Zayco.

 The art of reaching out



The historic Casa A. Gamboa in Silay City, Negros Occidental, the house built by Aguinaldo Severino Gamboa and his wife Dr. Alicia Lucero Gamboa in 1939, will host the Food for the Soul bazaar, set for the third week of November 2020, according to a press release from Casa A. Gamboa.

Food for the Soul will be a two-day bazaar aimed to provide artists and craft folk who lost livelihoods due to the pandemic, with a venue where they can present their creations and generate needed income. The event will observe proper health protocols and will be done in an outdoor setting.



Jardin de Alicia, the sprawling gardens at Casa A. Gamboa, will be transformed into a curated bazaar with discerning criteria. Tastefully done booths will be provided for artisans and artists who will pass stringent curation criteria. The event will be an exposition and exhibition of artisanal ware and cuisine that are unique and novel, embracing Negros culture and heritage.

In addition to providing opportunity for artisans and artists to exhibit and sell their creations, the press release also said that Feed our Souls aims to feed the local community a feast of homegrown artistry, creativity, and superior craftsmanship to appreciate. Thus, the act of “feeding souls” will happen both ways.

Food for the Soul is scheduled for Nov. 20-21, 2020. For details check the Facebook Page Casa A. Gamboa.

Forever endowed with the pleasure of experimenting in every aspect of his work, Darel Betita Javier comes from a long line of esteemed Negrense artists.


Born and raised in a family of artists, Darel Betita Javier, unlike his two siblings, was not quick to follow in the footsteps of their parents. Graduating with knowledge of architecture in 1992 from La Consolacion College- Bacolod, Darel spent much of his time in North Carolina, working on construction projects, before finally returning to the Bacolod City of Philippines. Finally pursuing what he was always meant to, Darel is now a full time evolving artist, forever endowed with the pleasure of experimenting in every aspect of his work.

SCREAM. Colored, pencil, 40inx30in

You grew up in the Philippines in a family of artists. How important has been this positive family environment in allowing you to express your art?

Art for me is just like a sport. It’s a playful thing. I never imagined that someday I will be just like my late dad doing art and enjoying it. I did not take art seriously when I was younger. My two brothers were already joining art competitions from the time we were elementary and high school, but not me. It was only after I came back from the US that I became a full time visual artist.

You then emigrated to the US for a few years (North Carolina). A major culture shock and a substantially different environment from the Philippines. What major learning(s) did you bring back from the US?

To be on time. In the US, it is important to be on time for an appointment or a meeting. The people there are always punctual and they always respect everybody’s time.

King, Queen, and the Prince

This Girl Is On Fire

Self Portrait

Mother's Paradox

You were born and brought-up in the Philippines, a Catholic country where religion is a central pillar within society. How important is religion in your art? What religious references do you like to refer to?

I am a Christian, I respect all kinds of beliefs and I don’t really touch religions in my art.

What is your creative process like? Where do you find your inspiration?

I usually draw it first on paper or tracing paper before finalizing it on a canvas. I often find my inspiration from my family especially from my wife, who has always believed in my work, since the beginning. She is a very supportive wife, and for an artist that is a very important thing.

Which is the role the artist plays in the society? How do you view the current art scene in the Philippines? How important is the space given to artists in modern Filipino society?

Artists help people and communities find their voice to be heard through art. It helps people express their feelings and learn to appreciate colors, textures, emotions and the beauties around them.

The Art scene in Philippines is very alive! A lot of new art galleries have opened, and more art exhibitions are happening. More young people have begun to appreciate art, and there are more younger art collectors emerging. The art scene in the Philippines is getting more exciting every year.

Any current or past Filipino artist who has influenced you?

I have a lot of present Filipino artists who influenced me a lot. I call them my art idols or the “masters”. Some of which are, Ronald Ventura, Rodel Tapaya, Andres Barrioquinto, Lynyrd Paras, Jon Jaylo and Jason Montinola.

Can you let our readers know of your favorite Art Museum in the Philippines?

ILOMOCA, Bencab & The Pinto Museum but I have never been there. The Pinto Museum is on my wishlist for when this pandemic ends. It’s the most instagram-worthy museum of Asia. As it is an hour from Manila, I tried to go there many times when I have group shows in Manila but it was to no avail, I’m always short of time. Because I usually stay only for 2 to 3 days and then go back again to Bacolod. Manila is so crowded, it’s a big city. I don’t belong there. I only go there when I have group shows.

SANCHUPAPA.  Oil on Canvas with Toilet Pump.

The five words that best describe your art?

Exceptional unique, expressively composed, and evolving.

In which city can we expect to see your next solo exhibition?

In Manila. I have upcoming solo shows but because of the pandemic, they were rescheduled.

If you were to name one mentor who has inspired you in your life and path as an artist, who would that be?

Of course my late dad, Eng. Eduardo D. Javier. He was an engineer, a visual artist, a muralist (who made the longest wood mural in Asia 1969), a sculptor, a Dad and a mentor.


This article appeared in L'Officiel Singapore and Luxuo.com . Interview by Julia Roxan.