Sanity Saturday in Contemporary Art: Where past interweaves with the present through social fabric

By Francis Garcia

Beads. A quick glance at it would show someone that it is merely an everyday object. It can be easily
connected with a piece of jewelry or an ornament, or as a mean of trade. The American Indians used
beads as form of currency, where a piece of blue bead may be equated to an ear of corn or a sheet of
beaded fabric with multiple colours is equated to a sack of yams. Beads are often seen on dresses to
accentuate a design, may it be about nature, or it simply forms part of embroidery. The other day, I went
to the Vargas Museum with my younger sister to check the latest exhibition of contemporary art
installed at the third floor of the museum. While we were walking towards the museum, I was telling
myself that I wouldnt like what I would see. It would be boring, I was conditioning myself, but my sister
changed my thoughts. As we were ascending the steps of the museum, which was an art itself, the cogs
in my brain began whirring, maybe this would be an interesting day after all, and I wasnt wrong. Inside
the gallery, I was awestruck, literally. The art on display was different, and I began to understand why
contemporary art is so important.

The intricate beaded work by Karl Castro, is an awe-inspiring contemporary art. He has interwoven the
past with the present through his portraits of women and people through his art. While I was carefully
studying the beadwork, my sister nudges me and asks me: Kuya (a term used to call older brothers) do
you still remember when you were small? Do you use to wear that ID lace with those beads back in
elementary? And I add with a smile as I recall a piece of nostalgia: Yes I do ading (a term of
endearment for a younger sibling in Ilocano), the more beads the more popular you are in class with
another chuckle we started laughing. I asked her, how do you connect traditional art with contemporary
and why do you think its so important? Without missing a beat, she looks at me and answers in the
most innocent manner, Kuya, you know how traditional art to contemporary art is a transition? Its like
from the more closed or boxed type of art which is the traditional way of art form, an artist wants to
express himself or herself in a more vocal or more different way which is contemporary art where people
can relate with. Like this for example, (pointing to a portrait of a woman), why do you think the artist
used beads instead of the traditional medium which is paint? Look at the reason of the artist why he
used it, he said: Beads are equally charged with meaning. Currency, jewelry, talisman: beadwork
embodies the history of trade and social organization in the Philippines. Various cultures in the
Philippines from the Gaddang in the north to the Bagobo of the south string, sew, and weave beads
together as part of their material culture. Beads of stone, glass, and gold are some of our earliest relics;
some ancient pieces incorporate beads from as far as China, India, and Venice. In my tapestries, I use a
variety of materials: custom-dyed wooden beads manufactured in Cebu; a few antique beads from
heirloom pieces; various glass, shell, wood, metal and plastic beads purchased from traders in Manila
In Social Fabric (the art installation) the politics of the everyday is visible in all these images and
materials which lie in plain sight.

My sister continued: Its a connection, a link, between our past and our present. The beads represent a
fragment of our life. Its part of the social fabric. I begin to understand everything she said and I
appreciated contemporary art more. It really is a link.
I look at each beaded work one at a time, slowly. Each colour of the bead, each material used and I touch
each one, feeling it under my hands. I connect with the art and I let it in my skin. With each bead, I begin
to understand why contemporary art is so interesting, why it is so important.

As I walk around the museum, I begin to understand that traditional art is never really lost, its just
translated into something new. Into something our society would understand more, or relate to. Thats
why different mediums are used instead of the normal paints and acrylics. Contemporary art is a
medium, a vessel, where a person looking at an art work will relate to the artist. A photograph, a
memento and even something as small as a bead. A visit to a museum full of contemporary art is indeed
a sanity break. A reset that gets us in touch with both are past and our present by means of art. And with
that in mind, I cant wait to see another art work myself and visit another museum.