My friend the National Artist

On Wednesday I will make one of my very rare forays into the hallowed halls of Malacañang for the conferment of the National Artist award on a friend dear and treasured, the eminent set and costume designer Salvador Bernal.

Since the announcement was made a few weeks ago I have been watching him interviewed on television and reading about his achievements in press write-ups, and I must admit that there were quite a few things that I learned about Badong that I didn’t know before.

What is no surprise is the depth and breadth of his talent and vision, and his commitment to the arts. How he can turn any blank space–no matter how big or small, how technically bare or sophisticated–into anything he wants (or anything the director or producer wants)–a humble home, an enchanted mountain, a royal palace, a village square–is pure magic. And he can do so with the smallest of budgets (theater and dance productions in this country are always on less than a shoestring budget), the simplest of elements.

I remember a "mountain" he created out of bamboo poles and bare wooden planks. It was multi-leveled, serving as field, village and mountain. After one performance I went on stage to look at it up close, and it was both intimidating and flimsy, the poles and planks barely held together, it seemed. I figured though if the dancers could dance on the mountain I could certainly "climb" it, and I did–and the view from the peak was indeed lofty.

Such is the genius of artists. They take what is ordinary and plain, what each one of us can just as easily lay our hands on, and they turn it into something special. It can be wood or cloth, as in the case of Badong, or words, as in the case of poet Virgilio Almario–"Papa Rio" I still call him sometimes (when I want to remind him of his seniority), from when I was a fellow at the UP Summer Writers’ Workshop and he was one of our teachers many summers ago. Likewise the other awardees: filmmaker Eddie Romero, the late painter Jose Joya and STAR columnist Anding Roces.

From Wednesday on I should perhaps show Badong some amount of deference, since he will be a bemedaled National Artist, our equivalent perhaps of knighthood. But underneath his great talent Badong is such a great friend; we traveled through Indochina and India together, shopping and eating and exploring and working. I don’t think the National Artist award will change him much–Badong will always be Badong, but perhaps when we tease him we should now add "Sir" to the barb.