Kasibulan, a sisterhood of Filipina artists

This decades-long sisterhood of women artists continues to nurture the blossoming of feminism in the country

The country’s turbulent socio-political climate in the Seventies and Eighties paved the way for the rise of social realism and abstract expressionism. Challenging the class struggles and worsening political conditions, the artists protested art’s formalism. So, they started using their platforms to spark conversations on social justice, eco-consciousness, gender equality and much more.

As with many activist groups after the 1986 revolution, artists have always faced the Quo Vadis question through time. Imelda Cajipe-Endaya, one of the staunch pioneers of feminist art in the Philippines, was surrounded by her “sisters” in giving voice to the voiceless. Driven by their fervent desire to continue making an impactful change in society, she and her friends formed Kasibulan in 1987 and formally registered it in 1989.

Above "Bigkis na Mapagpalaya", 2002, mixed media (Photo: Courtesy of Cultural Center of the Philippines)

Kababaihan sa Sining at Bagong Sibol na Kamalayan (Women in Art and Emerging Consciousness), more popularly known as Kasibulan, was founded by Cajipe-Endaya with sculptor Julie Lluch, illustrator Anna Fer, craft maker Sister Ida Bugayong, and visual artist and educator Brenda Fajardo. Prolific Filipino writer Ed Maranan suggested the name Kasibulan to streamline Cajipe-Endaya and her friends’ aims to a blossoming chapter in the art scene and Philippine feminism.

Its objectives are to provide members with opportunities for creativity, growth and self-sufficiency; to nurture and sustain sisterhood among its members, and to link its members to a larger community of artists and women’s groups here and abroad. Kasibulan extends to raising awareness of the plight of women in various fields, industries and professions and taking an active role in catalysing social change and development.

Photo 1 of 2 "Salinlahi’y Iligtas", 2020, acrylic with sand on canvas (Photo: Courtesy of Cultural Center of the Philippines)

Photo 2 of 2 Imelda Cajipe-Endaya (Photo: Abdullah Ali Mapandi)

Current president Elaine Lopez-Clemente shares that she practically grew up in Kasibulan, being a member since her college years through one of her classmates’ mother, who was a member. “Although there were some years that I went inactive, Kasibulan’s objectives have been deeply ingrained in what I do as a visual artist,” she says.

Meanwhile, Yllang Montenegro, a former migrant worker who continues to advocate for this sector’s rights, met a member of Kasibulan in a panel discussion they were both invited to. There they talked about women’s issues and found a kindred spirit in one another. Months later, Kasibulan ordered from her printed canvas bags. What she thought would be just an order delivery turned out to be a general assembly of members. “I became friends with them organically because we do the same work and share the same sentiments,” Montenegro says, recalling that day when she entered a room full of women artists she idolised for many years.

Photo 1 of 2 "Baraha ng Pilipino 1", coloured ink on paper, 2018 (Photo: Courtesy of Tin-Aw Gallery)

Photo 2 of 2 Brenda Fajardo

The artists come from various disciplines of visual and performing arts, and the members come from different professions, which Kasibulan members find necessary and quite beneficial for the organisation to stay relevant up to this day. Learning a lot from each other is one of Montenegro and Lopez- Clemente’s favourite things about Kasibulan.

“With varying perspectives, we get a chance to see women’s issues from different vantages, not just from one’s own,” Fajardo says. “Being influenced by one another’s works and understanding issues holistically are enriching experiences in Kasibulan,” Lluch adds.

Fajardo tells Tatler that Kasibulan was only one of the many collectives that were being activated at that time by Remmy Ignacio Rikken, a leading figure in upholding the rights of Filipino women and integral to the founding of what is now known as the Philippine Commission on Women.

Photo 1 of 2 "Thinking Nude", 1988, terracotta and acrylic (Photo: Courtesy of Julie Lluch)

Photo 2 of 2 Julie Lluch

“The women artists back then were very active but only in the background,” says Cajipe-Endaya. There still needed to be a formal organisation for women artists, but prominent figures like Lydia Arguilla, Purita Kalaw-Ledesma and Lucrecia Kasilag were leading the Philippine Art Gallery, Art Association of the Philippines and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). “Women may be the leaders, but the stars of the scene, the magazines’ banner stories were all male artists,” she recalls.

Like Cajipe-Endaya’s renowned prints and collage paintings, Fajardo’s ‘aesthetics of poverty’ and Babaylan tarot cards, and Lluch’s terracotta and cast marble sculptures have been deemed timeless amid the dynamic art scene, Lopez-Clemente and Montenegro find Kasibulan’s objectives likewise ever-relevant.

Kasibulan sheds light on social justice, women empowerment, and eco-feminism and champions the foregrounding of local art by promoting the use and conservation of indigenous materials. These may be summarised by the pursuit of the artist’s role as a citizen. Historians like Fe Mangahas and literary figures like Thelma Kintanar, to name a few, diversified Kasibulan through their writings. Cajipe-Endaya shares that their members’ diversity is crucial for them to understand these topics deeply and take an active role in making an impact through a gamut of artistic mediums.

Photo 1 of 2 "ADHD1", 2022, woodblock print, embroidery, collage, and applique (Photo: Courtesy of Imahica Art Gallery)

Photo 2 of 2 Yllang Montenegro

Through the years, Kasibulan has been mounting exhibitions in major venues like UP Vargas Museum, GSIS Museum, Sining Kamalig, NCCA Gallery and CCP, among many others, as well as respected galleries and public spaces like Nayong Pilipino and Rizal Park. It also continues to conduct seminars and workshops in the grassroots communities in partnership with other NGOs and acclaimed speakers.

“Not only because you’re a woman and the subject matter of your works are women and the social issues they face, but you can also already call yourself a feminist,” Lluch firmly says. “When we say that being a feminist means being political, it means that you acknowledge that there is ‘power’, where it resides, and who uses this ‘power’. Feminists see this power residing in the patriarchy, so it is important to understand that there is an imbalance of power and do something to balance the scales between the sexes.”

Above Kasibulan founders: Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Julie Lluch, Anna Fer, Brenda Fajardo, and Sr Ida Bugayong

Kasibulan’s early years may be grounded on socio-political issues, but succeeding presidents like Baidy Mendoza, Lia Torralba, and so on, focused on self-empowerment for women. Montenegro and Lopez-Clemente continue the work of Kasibulan also in nation-building, focusing on children’s welfare and upholding the rights of mothers and wives.

“Feminism in the West is somewhat different to feminism in the Philippines. We, at Kasibulan, are more like negotiators of peace and educate the men in our families about these issues,” Cajipe-Endaya says. “Western feminists are more privileged socio-economically speaking, so their thrust is more personal. At least in Kasibulan, ours is centred on addressing gender and class struggles to help in nation-building.”

Above Elaine Lopez-Clemente, current president of Kasibulan

Hours before the interview, Lopez-Clemente and Montenegro led an event in partnership with Rural Women Advocates and the National Federation of Peasant Women – AMIHAN, where they had a pottery class with women farmers. “These workshops and activities that we do remind us always of the need for us to continue doing what Kasibulan has started,” Lopez-Clemente says. “Being a feminist does not only limit to passively knowing these issues and reacting to them but immersing yourself to know the cause of their struggles and joining them in finding solutions.”

“And we find out we have to keep on doing it. . .unfortunately,” Cajipe- Endaya quips that, made her sisters in Kasibulan smile with glinting eyes as they look to the present and beyond.

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