The tease down Asin Road

Because of all the publicity surrounding Ben Cab’s new museum, there was no other alternative to an unplanned weekend but - an instant trek to Baguio! Despite the six and a half-hour drive it finally took us to reach our destination, we were still in high spirits when we finally ventured out of our hotel to complete the quest.

With unusually clear instructions received from a Baguio lass (we Filipinos are notorious about directions), we wended our way through the city’s hazardous streets, trying to locate Asin Road. Once on that road, it’s only a seven kilometer drive down a mountain slope, but not to worry, there are plenty of signs spaced out pretty evenly, coaxing the fearful tourist (yes, that’s me) even further down.

This national artist probably thought it was a good idea to locate his ode to his art collection on this stretch, because one must pass various street-side shops vending woodcraft sculptures. It might have been successful in drumming up sales too, but unfortunately, after a while, you notice that the designs are all the same, and there’s not much by way of originality. Plus, it was raining and there were lots of fog when we made our way down, so it wasn’t a good idea to step out and browse for souvenir arts and crafts. I also had this naïve idea that I’d find affordable souvenirs at the museum – not!

Once you see the museum, you realize it’s pretty hard to miss – the huge modern structure offers a stark contrast to its neighbors humbly hugging the mountainside. Built of glass, marble and other such materials my more sophisticated friends would have easily recognized, the Ben Cab museum is everything a museum should be – reverential towards art, possessed of beautifully-lit space, inviting to the common pedestrian (assuming you could actually walk going there) and (knowing irreverent me) housing a café brewing fresh coffee downstairs.

My companion thought the design and the materials of the museum should have been more indigenous. I wasn’t all that hung up about it. I was just glad there was this space that clearly outclasses most of the contemporary art spaces in Manila. (Before I get hate mail, I qualified it with ‘contemporary,’ ok?)

Natch, the majority of the exhibition was devoted to National Artist Ben Cabrera’s own, but there was enough of a diversity for viewers to get a feel of other styles, media and sensibilities. There’s even a space for artworks on offer.

Off to the side was the artist’s soft-porn collection – and I don’t mean his collection of girlie mags (and by the way I’m not implying he has any.) A small erotic art gallery (with the proper viewer advice meant to scare parents) is located mid-level, and I really didn’t think some of them (the nudes, for example) qualified as erotic, but well, as they say, it’s all a matter of taste. (Better safe from the moral majority than sorry!)

While I could say the bulul collection (traditional wooden carvings of human figurines), which fills up an entire wall and more of the museum, would be enough reason to visit, that would be a disservice to the artistry of our national treasure, whose works, especially the Geisha collection, I just adore. I know even if I wrote for this paper for the next ten years, my earnings wouldn’t be enough to buy me a BenCab, but that museum at least allows access to a body of his work we would otherwise never know about.

His works on display give one more than just a sense of his range and depth. Every time his brush depicts cloth, you see the flow of the garment, the lavish swathes of clothing gathered and pulled in, the movement of the person as well as the fall of multi-layered fabrics. Somehow, it leads the viewer to comparisons with Comme des Garcon or Yohji Yamamoto. I don’t know if I said it or my companion said it (and if he said it first, I agree wholeheartedly) but Ben Cab should have been a couturier.

Caveat though - my only complaint with the museum is that while you get a taste of BenCab, it doesn’t leave you full. There was just enough to tease, but hardly enough for comprehensive exposure. Which just might mean, another visit. 

God knows we love a tease.