Unearthing ‘Lost Conversations’: Filipino masters speak to modern audience
In 1973, art critic and visual artist Cid Reyes embarked on a journey to know the masters of Philippine art through in-depth, personal conversations.
Many were later named national artists or attained reputable status for their contributions to the development of art in their chosen fields.
Reyes first interviewed Victorio Edades in his Davao home that year. He said that conversation with Edades, unplanned but providential, was the beginning of his series of interviews with the masters, a series that continues to this day.
These tête-à-têtes, “Lost Conversations,” can now be viewed on the ArticulatePH YouTube page, which was put up by Reyes and Melvin Mangada last year. This page features digitized interviews conducted by Reyes with past and present Filipino masters and known contemporary visual artists.
Supported by the National Museum and the Museum Foundation of the Philippines, “Lost Conversations” was formally launched at the National Museum of Fine Arts on March 7, coinciding with the 40th death anniversary of Edades.
National Museum Deputy Director Deneral Jorell Legaspi, Museum Foundation president Danny Jacinto, and Museum Foundation vice president Gemma Cruz Araneta delivered their messages of support to and appreciation for the noble project. Both institutions are behind the production of ArticulatePH, which features interviews by Reyes with National Artists for Visual Arts Edades, Napoleon Abueva, Jose Joya, Ang Kiukok, Vicente Manansala, and Hernando R. Ocampo, as well as greats Pacita Abad, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Nena Saguil, Mauro “Malang” Santos, and Juvenal Sanso, among others.
Digitized files
These interviews recorded on cassette tapes were converted into videos with images of the artists and their works. Some were long and had to be divided into two parts to sustain interest among viewers.
Reyes said Mangada, chairman and chief creative officer of the advertising agency TBWASantiago Mangada Puno, “conceived ArticulatePH as a social media channel to promote Philippine art and culture to the world.”
These interviews, he said, present “a vibrant panoramic view of the past and present of Philippine art” and “constitute a primary material in the writing, understanding, and appreciation” of the latter.
The said interviews were the basis of his 1989 book published by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, “Conversations on Philippine Art.”
“These should serve as sources of inspirations to the younger generation and that these interviews are treasures of Philippine history,” Reyes said.
In terms of modern art, he said “we’re languishing that we are inferior, backward, but it is a wrong perception and we should change our mindset about ourselves, masyado nating iniismol sarili natin (we think too little of ourselves).”
In the field of arts and culture, he said, “we are no longer searching for identity. I think we have already found ourselves” in terms of the immense Filipino talent.
It is fortunate that the cassette tapes of his interviews which were under his care survived to this day without being damaged by mold or humidity. Eight of these tapes, mounted on a transparent box, were donated to the National Museum during the said launch.
Art archive
Of the masters he interviewed, he said that each one was unique and was unaware of their greatness. He said these conversations should be preserved as part of the country’s cultural history. The significance is not just the messages these artists conveyed but also the preservation of their voices.
The Philippines, he said, should have an archive of Philippine art just like the Smithsonian archive of American art in the United States.
He likewise encouraged young Filipino artists, writers, and critics to sustain what he did on Philippine art.
“I am just an instrument of history for this stage of Philippine modernism to have been preserved,” he said.
Apart from “Lost Conversations,” ArticulatePH also features Reyes’ insightful talks with famed contemporary artists called “ArticulatePH Interviews.”
Last year, the page uploaded 24 videos, with many still yet to be uploaded for the education and inspiration of the general public. Some of the artists featured include Manny Garibay, Geraldine Javier, Ronald Ventura, and Reg Yuson.
There are also interviews with owners of art galleries and museums like Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz of Galleria Duemila in Pasay City and Dr. Joven Cuanang of Pintô Art Museum in Antipolo, Rizal.
