Finding a place in art: 5 Filipino artists make their mark

Theatre Director During the pandemic, this auteur director remained active, as the need to create never ceased. He created Still, a television series about a group of musicians stranded in a music camp during the pandemic. The entire industry was put on hold, and no one could go out, but Valera still found a way to share his art. Not surprising since he has been described as a “commanding wielding power among his peers pushing those around him to go beyond the ordinaire”! As fellow theatre director Alex Cortez describes him, “Valera is in control of everything. He has a firm grasp of all the many facets of theatre.” Still is being streamed internationally on Viu Philippines.

While working on Still, this creative talent and two-time Palanca awardee was also rewriting Mula sa Buwan, a Filipinised play based on Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac set in the Forties just when the country was on the brink of the Second World War. Mula sa Buwan has morphed since its original production in 2010 to what it is today, and each run has seen changes in the script, character development, venue and size. Valera explains, “Rewriting scripts is necessary because the world we live in keeps changing all the time and the beauty of theatre is its ability to adapt.” Among his many interests, he takes great satisfaction in being a teacher—especially to the new generation of actors.

One of the most prolific in his genre, this street artist started as a vandal in high school when he was invited by a friend to go Tagging (the graffiti term for the repeated use of a single symbol or series of symbols in a single colour to mark territory”). Rnvc recalls, “Spray cans were expensive, so I would use a pentel marker and brush. My friend and I would choose visible spaces. It was fun. It was illegal.” But that was over 20 years ago.

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Despite claiming he has no specific style, 40-year-old Rnvc has developed an art that stands out. Often, his art is accompanied by messages such as “Bawal Magtapon ng Basura Dito [Do Not Throw Garbage Here]” or, during the pandemic, “Stay Home. Save Lives”. He says his art “tries to give back to the community by doing some sort of service even if it is merely considered signage”. Rnvc admits, “There is still that stigma of being a vandal when creating street art, especially among the older generations and the authorities. Nowadays, we get permission from the owners and inform the barangay of our intent.”

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A far cry from his early beginnings as Rnvc recalls, “In the past, when caught, we got shouted at and worse, get beaten up!” Today, while still in good health, what matters to him is to continue creating.

Growing up in Legaspi City in a family who loved to dance, Jasper remembers being chosen often to perform in school functions and local festivities, which his family supported. This support never wavered during his time at the Philippine High School for the Arts for Folk Dance, when he entered the University of the Philippines, moved to get his degree from the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts and even to this day.

Now based in London, Narvaez is a member of the award-winning Akram Khan dance company or AKC, which performs globally to “create uncompromising narratives”. “I gravitate to understanding how bodies move, especially upon learning the rules and elements of different styles of dance and movement practices. I love puzzles, and dancing feels like understanding a puzzle: You learn its algorithms and ways to solve it,” he says. Narvaez realises that dance in the Philippines has always been precarious, where dancers constantly try to create despite the lack of opportunities. Despite this, the passion Filipino dancer’s talent and potential are undeniable, and their spirit is undaunted.

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This US-based Filipino soprano states, “Filipino singers should work toward the decolonisation of our consciousness as a people.” She decries how Filipino musicians glorify and revere Western classical music as the highest form of music “while our traditional music is simply relegated to intermission numbers in events for its entertainment value”. She expounds, “The Philippines has its musical traditions enough to fuel the Filipino artist’s creative passions. This must be acknowledged and cultivated with the help of the  government. Only then can we find our voice and realise the full potential of the Filipino artist’s capacity to create, innovate and liberate ourselves from established musical authorities.”

The sought-after choir master Jonathan Velasco describes Quintin-Avila as a singer who is unafraid to pursue the cutting-edge exploration of new music to sing. She has an excellent voice and fantastic musicality”. As a performer, Quintin-Avila takes the task of being a singer seriously. For her, performing songs created by others endows a singer with the privilege of being the conduit for other people’s stories and struggles. She also believes it is the singer’s job to help the audience understand the past of people’s lives and to revel in shared humanity.

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