On the Need to Document Art
Artworks: preserving the country’s art history.
Art is integral to a nation’s growth.
It is through the artists’ eyes that one sees the sensibilities of a nation during a given period, and it is in the art that they create that one recognizes the issues of the time. Philippine art, then, is a testament of the history handed to us through books, a testament of our cultural heritage. It is precisely for this reason that we patronize local art forms and productions. But patronizing, through the years, proves inadequate. There is still a need to commit all these oeuvres to memory, to document what has been done. Preservation is crucial especially in the writing of art history, since pieces of art could easily disintegrate and fade before they could be recognized.
It is for this reason that art books are produced. Often printed in the form of coffee table books, they serve various purposes. For collectors and homemakers, art books are décor pieces, patronized and displayed often in the living room as potential topics for conversation. In the academia, however, art books serve as references for artists, art historians, critics, and curators, among others. Because they contain snippets of history told in another version, they are not only meant for display but also for research.
Take, for instance, the coffee-table book Artworks: First Fifty Years, which was recently launched by the Artists’ Association of the Philippines Foundation, Inc (AAP). Envisioned by former AAP president Ramon Orlina and composed of more than 300 pages, it is a compilation of winning entries of the AAP Annual Art Competition spanning from 1948 to 1998. Introductory essays for each decade further describe the tempers and temperaments of the time. Simultaneously, the essays are a combination of impartial history and personal memoirs since their writers themselves are, for the most part, participants in the making of this history.
“It was such a joy to be a part of this endeavor because the material covered was so special, especially memories of student days,” shares art historian Dr. Florina Capistrano-Baker, who edited the introductory essays in Artworks: First Fifty Years. “There was just a personal resonance for me, editing the wonderful essays, especially those [covering the] periods where I experienced firsthand the anecdotes being relayed in the book.”
More than a mere coffee-table book, Artworks may be considered a memento in itself, a souvenir of the time now past. But then it may also be considered, like all art books, a benchmark for future generations, a means for younger artists to know what has been done and what may be in store for them in the contemporary art scene. Art books like Artworks not only function as décor or reference but also a source of inspiration and affirmation, for artists and non-artists alike.
“It’s a landmark book,” says Ada Ledesma-Mabilangan, daughter of Purita Kalaw-Ledesma, founder of the AAP. The first copy of the coffee table book was given to her in honor of her mother, who has, according to her, dedicated so much of her life to the organization. “It’s a book that will interest artists, curators, researchers, and art critics, not only in the Philippines but in the international community, which has so much focus now on what’s going on in Philippine art.”
Certainly art is not only a means of entertainment or propaganda. It is definitely one of the ways through which we identify ourselves as Filipinos, through the different worlds our artists paint for us.
With every stroke of the brush and every slice of the chisel, artists create oeuvres that reflect both their world and ours, masterpieces that feed both our personal growth and the process of Philippine-nation.
Artworks: First Fifty Years (1948-1998) is exclusively available at the Ayala Museum and Filipinas Heritage Library until 30 November 2010. After, it will be available at Power Books and selected National Bookstore branches. – Article courtesy of Manila Bulletin
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