CSB exhibit highlights disasters, risks

MANILA, Philippines - An exhibit that features artistic interpretations of disasters and risky situations is being displayed at the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (CSB) in Manila.

Dubbed “Safe Place in the Future (?) Dystopia Now Utopia Never,” was opened to the public last July 25 and will run until Nov. 23.

"The exhibit focuses on the circumstance that put the world at risk and brings about dangerous conditions, both natural and man-made. The response towards these risks and situations is reexamined and reinterpreted in various forms,” said Mary Ann Josette Pernia of the CSB Museum of Contemporary Art and Design.

The artistic interpretations were expressed through various media including sculpture, interactive media, documentary films and photography. The works deal with complex issues on safety, urban renewal, and aftermath of disasters.

The exhibit features the works of artists from Denmark, Thailand, Malaysia, the Netherlands and the Philippines.

Among the works being shown in the exhibit is “Tungkung Langit,” a 20-minute film by Kiri Dalena about children who lost their parents in a typhoon that hit Iligan in 2011.

The video seeks to help the children attain healing by allowing them to speak about their experiences.

Visitors may also view videos that use hypnosis to enable them to imagine themselves as victims of the recent economic downturn.

“The Financial Crisis” by Danish artist group Superflex plays at hypnosis to focus the viewers’ attention through instructions and suggestions. Visitors will view the videos in a dark room while sitting on a comfortable sofa, helping them relax and focus.

Meanwhile, the short film “Kolam” by Malaysian artist Chris Chong Chan Fui shows how children of a tsunami-hit village in Aceh, Indonesia are reacquainted with water.

Also being displayed in the exhibit is “Glance Left and Right, and One Day, Another,” paper works by Thai artist Pattara Chanruechachai that depict empty and abandoned buildings as a result of the economic crash. The images were formed by putting together photocopies of newspapers.

Other works featured in the exhibit are “Shadowlands” by Robert Knoth and Antoinette de Jong of the Netherlands, a series of photos depicting the impact of the strong earthquake that ravaged Japan in 2011; “Hong Rub Khaek” and “Mahakad” by Navin Rawanchaikul of Thailand, videos that deal with migrant, marginal and roving people.

Also being shown are “Hua Hin Dam’s,” a film by Pisut Srimhok of Thailand about the ways of the Karen villagers of western Thailand; “Dialogues on Discrepancy,” a photograph by Piyasak Ausup of Thailand that shows images of violence in the south of Thailand; “The Structure of Fear,” an installation by Thai artist Thasnai Sethaseree that gives shape to fear through software programs in a bid to enable the viewer to overcome it; and “Bangkok Adaptive City 2045”  a project that seeks to explore ways to make the city resilient to disasters.

“Safe Place in the Future (?) Dystopia Now Utopia Never,” is a collaboration between the CSB Museum of Contemporary Art and Design and the Jim Thompson Art Center.

The exhibit can be viewed at the ground floor of the School of Design and Art Building of CSB in Manila.