AdZU GPA launches September 9: A Reminiscence Project
September 9: A Reminiscence Project is a creative response to remember innocent lives lost, countless victims displaced and courageous heroes who have fallen and who have lived on to tell the story of the Zamboanga Crisis that occurred last year. The visual presentation curated by JaCabato taps on this shared reality that was seen, experienced and imagined. War memorabilia collected by Perry Dela Cruz is placed side by side captivating scenarios at Cawa-cawa captured by Jess Abrera Yu and inspiring images of Ateneo de Zamboanga’s disaster relief system taken by Jay Bautista. Included in the exhibit is a set of photographs contributed by Philippine Red Cross aptly named Stories of Heroism and Courage: A year after the siege which features their initial responses, psychosocial and medical services during and after the humanitarian crisis.
Reminiscent of the scars that pained the city is Edwin Dwende Jumalon’s oil painting September. The work captures dislocated images of the atrocities seen after the war – a half-naked young evacuee wrapped in malong, a cemented wall ridden with bullets and a super-imposed burning of nipa houses on stilts. Reflecting an atmosphere of hope despite the shadows of a traumatic past is an installation by JaCabato. Cardboard houses mimicking those that stood before in razed Rio Hondo is placed atop pedestals while a flock of doves are seemingly set to land on the area. Also featured are intense artistic works of Zamboanga artists Sefi Curada, Lorna Fernandez, Amihan Jumalon, RameerTawasil and a poem entitled Deliverance by RegineMirenCabato. Clearly felt is the component of interconnectedness in the works as it engages the public through a visual narrative of the victory of hope and peace over the chasms of war.
Located at The Gallery of the Peninsula and the Archipelago at Ateneo de Zamboanga University, La Purisima Campus, the exhibition will run until October 10, 2014. Gallery hours are from 9AM to 6PM Mondays to Fridays and 8AM to 12NN on Saturdays. For more information contact (062) 991-0871 local 4300 or 4301.
