The City Who Had Two Navels

Inspired by Filipino National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin’s novel The Woman Who Had Two Navels, published in 1961, the Philippine Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Biennale confronts the tension between the vicissitudes of the past and the challenges of constructing contemporary subjectivity.

Titled The City Who Had Two Navels as a critical response to Joaquin’s important literary work, the Philippine contribution to the Biennale highlights two “navels” that are in constant dialogue: first, how colonialism impacts the formation of the built environment; and second, how the process of neoliberalization alters the urban landscape.

First Navel
The first “navel,” “(Post)Colonial Imaginations,” presents major expositions and world’s fairs showcasing the Philippines, including the 1887 Exposicion General de las Islas Filipinas (Madrid, Spain), the 1904 St. Louis Fair (St. Louis, Missouri, USA), the 1998 Expo Pilipino (Clark Airbase, Pampanga), among others. Through images and artifacts, the first section looks at how Philippine displays in expositions reproduced colonial narratives of the exotic and the primitive. The first section of the pavilion presents the question: can we truly escape the colonial?

Second Navel
The second navel, “Neoliberal Urbanism” presents the development of Philippine cities as embedded within processes of neoliberalization. Under a neoliberal agenda, cities are placed in a hierarchy based on their ability to compete for capital following principles of privatization, deregulation, free market, and minimal state intervention. For the second section, the pavilion poses the question: is neoliberalization a new form of colonialism?

Intersection
In the central part of the exhibition, a video installation explores the intersection of the two forces of colonialism and neoliberalism. The juncture of these two “navels” represents an emergent wave of postcolonial anxieties born out of the process of exiting the colonial condition. 

Consortium
To address this emerging postcolonial anxiety, a think-tank consortium was created comprising students and faculty from select architecture, art, design, and planning programs in the Philippines. They are: (1) Yason Banal, contemporary artist and filmmaker; (2) TAO (Technical Assistance Organization) Pilipinas, Inc. a women-led non-government organization that assists urban and rural poor communities; (3) De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde; (4) University of San Carlos; (5) University of the Philippines - Diliman; and (6) University of the Philippines - Mindanao.

The consortium was commissioned to conduct research on the current state of the metropolitan cities of Manila, Cebu and, Davao and were tasked to respond to the identified issues and to present proposals about the future. Through the speculations about the two “navels” and the concomitant architectural and urban issues, Philippine Freespace or Pookginhawa anticipates possibilities for renewed life and hope.

Curator
Edson G. Cabalfin is Associate Professor at the School of Architecture and Interior Design at the University of Cincinnati. He received his Ph.D. in History of Architecture in 2012 from Cornell University. Under a Fulbright Fellowship from 2001 to 2003, he obtained his M.S. Architecture degree from the University of Cincinnati. Prior to coming to the U.S., he received his B.S. Architecture (cum laude) and Master of Architecture degrees from the University of the Philippines – Diliman.

National Participation
The Philippine participation at the 16th International Architecture Biennale is a collaborative undertaking of National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda.

Cabalfin’s curatorial concept was selected among 12 proposals that were submitted to the Coordinating Committee in response to the open call for curatorial proposals for the Philippine participation at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale.

The Commissioner of the Philippine Pavilion is Virgilio S. Almario, NCCA Chairman and Filipino National Artist for Literature.

The Philippine Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Biennale will be housed at the Artiglierie, Arsenale and will run from May 26 to November 25, 2018.

Contact
info@philartvenicebiennale.net