Gerardo Tan, Felicidad A. Prudente, and Sammy N. Buhle: Andi taku e sana, Amung taku di sana / All of us present, This is our gathering

Andi taku e sana, Amung taku di sana are the opening lines of a Sogna, a chant performed by the Madukayan Kalinga ethnolinguistic group of the highland Cordillera region of the Philippines. It translates to “All of us present, This is our gathering.” The chant is performed prior to a peaceful dialogue among the members of the community. The act of gathering and of being present as a community manifests a collective consciousness of reaching a common aspiration, despite differences in interests and views. 

Andi taku e sana, Amung taku di sana / All of us present, This is our gathering is an exhibition that involves an interdisciplinary approach to transmitting culture with sound and textile, weaving the customary and the contemporary across the archipelago. It presents a highly mediated process of generating sound, performance, image and object by conveying the production and translation of the source cultural sounds of chanting and weaving into notations, visual art and textiles.

The exhibition performs a convergence of cultural expressions that creates spaces for inquiry into traditional and contemporary art forms. The first work, Speaking in Tongue, is a two-channel video installation featuring the translation of a traditional chant into performative painting using squid ink as a medium. It is followed by Renderings, which shows the transmission of sound made from traditional weaving practices remediated in video and textile material. Throughout the process of production, translation and rendering, the work lends itself to the artists’ agency through improvisation and an open interpretation of the audience, thus creating space for investigation and exchange.

Curators
Yael Buencamino Borromeo is Head of Programs and Audience Engagement at Lopez Museum and Library and was the director of the Manila Museums Summit 2021. Her professional interests lie in interdisciplinary initiatives in cultural institutions and museum development. She was the founding Executive Director of Areté at Ateneo de Manila University (2017-2019) and managing curator of the Ateneo Art Gallery (2007-2017). She holds an MA in Southeast Asian Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Arvin Flores has an MFA graduate degree from The School of the Arts, Columbia University, New York NY, and a BFA from the College of Creative Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara. He is also co- Director of Artery Art Space, an artist-run gallery in Manila since 2014. A practicing artist, he has done independent curatorial work, and writes as an extension of his creative and critical practice.

Artists
Sammy N. Buhle comes from a family of weavers who taught him the art of weaving at an early age. Born in 1989 in Banaue, Ifugao, he acknowledges his grandmother, mother and father as his primary influences in his practice. Buhle studied management accounting but decided to pursue his passion for weaving. He now handles the family weaving house and actively participates in textile fairs.

Felicidad A. Prudente is one of the leading Filipino ethnomusicologists in the Philippines. Having conducted fieldwork over the years, she has published numerous articles on indigenous Philippine music. A piano and music education graduate from St. Paul College Manila, she pursued graduate studies in musicology with emphasis in ethno-musicology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor where she was Visiting Professor in 2004. She served as music professor at the University of the Philippines and consultant at the Philippine Women’s University.

Gerardo Tan is a multi-media artist whose work deals with issues of representation and conceptual plays. Since the 80’s he has represented the Philippines in various international art exhibitions. His work is represented in the collections of various national local and international institutions. His distinctions include a Fulbright-Hays Grant at SUNY Buffalo, the Barbara Schuller’s Arts Associates Award in Buffalo, 44th Western NY Exhibition, Juror’s Choice Award from the Art Association of the Philippines and a CCP 13 Artists Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Press contact
Jeanne Melissa Severo, Philippine Arts in Venice Biennale: info@philartvenicebiennale.net