Cebu, People, Places and Faces

CEBU, Philippines – These days, art, technology and architecture are what you will find at the re-conceptualized i-Towers at Asiatown IT Park, Lahug. What will greet you in the lobby of the triplet buildings are works of art by Cebu’s prominent and up-and-coming artists.

According to Sonia de la Torre Yrastorza, Primary Structures, the owner of the towers, commissioned her group, the Cebu Artists, Inc., to conceptualize exhibits that would help bring art and culture to the majority of Cebuanos and most specially the young professionals.

The triplet i-Towers (i1, i2, i3), as we all know, are home to the city’s most vibrant contact centers and outsourcing companies employing thousands of young people. What better way to inject culture to the younger generation who may not have even seen the inside of a gallery or a museum.

Yrastorza said: “We are working together because at the same time we are hoping to develop this area as a tourist destination for people from outside to see our culture.”

Dubbed “Cebu: People, Places and Faces,” the newest exhibit at i1 is all about what’s beautiful in Cebu Island.

The exhibit features 22 artists from different groups like CAI, Kolor Sugbu and Panaghugpong, as well as independent one’s.

Each artists, although defined by their own style and choice of medium, is unified by their desire to paint Cebu and its people in the most positive light. All of which, I would safely say, have an impressionistic or realistic feel to their works, because, as Yrastorza explained, i1 will be devoted to this genre of visual arts, while i2 will venture into cubism and expressionism, and i3 will be more adventurous with non-objective works bordering into abstractionism and contemporary art. I couldn’t wait for these artists to start doing installation art in the buildings as well. Picture: a dragon made of indigenous material hanging from the outside of i3.

“This is our way of helping make people aware of what is beautiful in Cebu,” said Yrastorza. “For our part, this is our contribution towards improving tourism in the country and in Cebu City.”

Yrastorza herself has some of her works displayed. One that caught my fancy is “Sanctuary,” a painting of a long chair tucked and probably hidden in the middle of a lush garden. For me it depicts loneliness, yet there is peace that comes with the solitary ambience of the piece. “The Way” on the other hand captured the spirituality of the Cebuanos as devotees flock to the famous landmark, the Basilica del Santo Niño de Cebu.

Celso Pepito’s “Manifestation of Faith,” depicting an aged candle vendor most probably outside the premises of the Santo Niño church, and Antonio Vidal’s “Fiesta Scene” are perfect representations of the famous Sinulog Festival and its meaning to the Cebuanos.

You might also take notice of Doodz Iligan’s “After the Toil” picturing two laundrywomen, crowned by their work load and backdropped by a beautiful river full of life. I am reminded of my childhood when such a scene was a reality, now this scene is becoming rare as more and more of our rivers are dying. A social commentary? It depends on the viewer.

Cebu: People, Places and Faces will be on display at the lobby of i1 until early April to be replaced by “Pasyon,” a one-man show by Manuel Pañares right before the Holy Week. i2, on the other hand, is featuring Celso Pepito’s one-man show called “Black and White.”