Open Studio

I am living in this building, everything is really monochromatic and sterile-- napaka-creative ang space no?.

We had an open studio over the weekend. The artists set up their work and people come by to look and talk / ask questions. Some people put up drawings, photographs, other installations. I put up a table and chair and made kwento to people coming in. With samples of my work running on a slideshow.



Met Jeremy who is Chinese, married to a Japanese, living in Boston and he runs an inititiative called the Ampalaya Council. They promote the ampalaya (bitter melon in English).

Met artist Mitsunori who was a speaker at the day's art talk who was thrilled to hear I was from the RP. I braced myself for the reason but relaxed soon after. In his fishing village in northern Japan, the only foreigner living there was an apprentice to a wood carver and he was Pinoy, he taught Mitsunori how to play basketball.

There was also this girl who kept talking to me, asking walang connection questions in baluktot English, ang kulit niya. Yum pala nag-prapractice lang siya. Ignore.



The highlight of the afternoon though was the two Cambodian artists who managed a performance using rubbish, paint, old receipts and a video projection of pollution. It was amazing that the creative sensibilities come out spontaneously in a place where art as a creative expression is not allowed. In Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, creative self-expression is frowned on, is considered taboo. So artists in Laos and Cambodia are usually painters who do temple (Buddhist) murals. And well Myanmar...

That these two guys are here in Japan doing this is pretty amazing.