A constellation of collaborative work

Ateneo Art Gallery presents an exhibit on artist collectives

THE PRACTICE of Philippine muralism and socially engaged art has persisted over decades, across presidential administrations both ruthless and neglectful. Rooted in collaborations among artists and communities, it is marked by grassroots-based art projects and exhibitions, all of which operated in different pockets throughout the country — until recently.

Founded in 2023, TalaAnyo emerged as a gathering of seven artist-led collectives. Their name derived from the words tala (“star” and “to mark”) and anyo (“form” and “appearance”), and they first mounted an exhibition together at Orange Project in Bacolod City in 2024.

Last month, they opened their first museum exhibition, titled Orion in Sight: A View of Collective Work, at the third floor galleries of the Ateneo Art Gallery, spanning the work of TalaAnyo’s seven member initiatives from 2005 to the present.

The artist-founders and their respective collectives are: Renato Habulan of Agos Studio; Alfredo Esquillo, Jr. of Eskinita Art Farm (Tanauan, Batangas); Emmanuel Garibay of Linangan Art Residency (Alfonso, Cavite); Charlie Co of Orange Project (Bacolod, Negros Island); Elmer Borlongan and Plet Bolipata of Pasilyo Press (San Antonio, Zambales); Leslie de Chavez of Project Space Pilipinas (Lucban, Quezon); and Mark Justiniani and Joy Mallari of Tungtung Alon Art Foundation (Tanay, Rizal).

Project Space’s Mr. De Chavez said their coming together was bound to happen after regular exchanges following the pandemic.

“We found ourselves taking the time to talk about the world around us, engaging in conversations that had become increasingly rare,” he said in a speech at the exhibit opening on June 28.

He posited that the exhibition presents how their “enduring desires, vision, ambitions, struggles, dreams, nightmares continue to shape the persistence to live and resolve to survive.

“While the powers that be have normalized curated forms of oppression both locally and globally, the wounds and the pain they have inflicted should never sit comfortably with us,” he said. “I personally see TalaAnyo not merely as an artist collective, but as a force or a pwersa. This inter-generational and socio-culturally diverse coming together of artist initiatives envisions rethinking, rebuilding, and strengthening the vital lessons of art and history as foundations of cultivating a more humane, empowering, and deeply connected artistic community.”

A highlight in this exhibition is Habang Tanaw (2026), a monumental painting by its founding artists which encapsulates Philippine social realist muralism in seven panels. The first one-third of the piece depicts movements of resistance across the country’s history, with bloodshed marking the clash of protesters and global powers, and technology shown as a weapon that numbs and blinds the people. The right side is the timeliest, showcasing political figures of today thriving in the chaos.

“Not only is this a huge collaboration between some of the country’s most respected artists and their groups, but it’s also a story of how they set aside their individual time and commitments to learn from each other and draft a collective response to the crisis today,” said the exhibit’s curator, Lisa Ito-Tapang.

“Habang Tanaw affirms the responsibility of the artist as a critical voice,” she told BusinessWorld. “They came together to make this as concerned artists and very concerned citizens, and as members of a larger community working for real and lasting social change.”

She added that the exhibit was a huge undertaking, primarily because of the scope of having to present key works from all seven initiatives throughout their collective history.

“I had to give it a lot of thought because of the challenge that this represented,” Ms. Ito-Tapang said, on how she went about the curation. “How does one show a group, a new group, of seven Philippine artist initiatives, which span galleries, alternative spaces, individual platforms, and proto-institutions, to highlight not only their founders’ individual contributions, but their connected efforts?”

The result is a well-rounded presentation of collaborative and community-engaged works by both the initiatives and their founders, as well as selected material from earlier artist collectives that paved the way for TalaAnyo, such as Kaisahan, Tambisan sa Sining, Artista ng Bayan, Pamilya Pintura, Salingpusa, Sanggawa, and Sakay.

For Ateneo Art Gallery director Victoria “Boots” Herrera, the show is “cognizant of the potency of art as vehicles of expression, critical thinking, and change.” In addition to the curator, she credited writer-researcher Janine Go Dimaranan and the team of TalaAnyo artists and community organizers for the resulting exhibit.

On why the show is titled Orion in Sight, Ms. Ito-Tapang explained: “I found inspiration in the constellation Orion, which is known in the indigenous imagination as Balatik. Like TalaAnyo’s seven initiatives, it is a formation comprised of many stars. Seven are most visible, but it is still comprised of more clusters and more stars, all contributing to the whole constellation.

“These constellations are metaphors for the community and collective work which TalaAnyo’s seven initiatives give us today,” she said.

Covering Martial Law to the People Power movement to Duterte’s drug war, the past 50 years is visible through the exhibition’s clear pulse on movements led by artists across history.

“Here, we show a lot of murals, which are often interchangeably used in the Philippine context to refer to a painting on large scale, not necessarily paintings on walls,” Ms. Ito-Tapang said. “The form of the mural shifted across modernist collaboration to citizen protest to socially engaged and participatory art.”

Visitors will also see a variety of forms, like prints and sculptures, which were products of the artists’ efforts to pass on creative knowledge to rural communities. It concludes the show with the notion that it really takes a whole village.

A series of public programs co-organized with the Ateneo Art Gallery will be held soon, including artist talks, workshops, and activities, reflecting TalaAnyo’s approach to collective practice and community engagement.

“This is where TalaAnyo’s individual founders allow their individual names to recede into the background to highlight collective and collaborative works,” Ms. Ito-Tapang said. “In a time when access to art education and history is being erased, what can the solidarity they represent achieve if it is cascaded on larger scales?”

Orion in Sight is on view until Oct. 18 at the third floor of Ateneo Art Gallery in Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Ave., Quezon City. — Brontë H. Lacsamana