Pavilions to love at the 57th Venice Art Biennale

Commissioned by Sen. Loren Legarda and Tatler Magazine, ace multimedia artist Elvert Bañares attended the 2017 Venice Art Biennale to document the Philippine Pavilion titled “The Spectre of Comparison.”
Led by curator Joselina Cruz, the exhibit features Filipino artists Lani Maestro and Manuel Ocampo representing the nation in the prestigious global art exhibition.
“The Spectre of Comparison” will hold its vernissage on May 11, 2017 at the Artiglierie of the Arsenale in Venice, and will open to the public from May 13 to November 26, 2017.
A multitasker, Elvert made the rounds of the pavilions and registered his loves:
France. Utilizing its space to accommodate the soundscapes of the instruments created and letting actual musicians play them, artist Xavier Veilhan echoes processes of collaboration and invites visitors to take part in personal, physical and aural spaces.
Germany. It’s a quick entry point into what seem to be a random event wherein the visitor assumes the role of an actual spectator. If this were not situated inside a pavilion, you would think you were in a social experiment. Anne Imhof utilizes drama (technically, a performance) with installations and sculpture to examine current issues faced by individuals today. Do we want to see things from afar or are we engaging ourselves in issues that directly affect others?
Mexico. The real and the abstract evoke moods of curiosity, mystery and tension in very cryptic pieces in this installation by Carlos Amorales. Coupled with a musical score and an animated film, the feeling of alienation is heightened. Watch what happens to the migrant family in the animated film and try interpreting the flier afterwards. It’s a rich experience presented in minimal forms that remains with you even after you leave the space.
Tunisia. There is an immigration counter and there are long lines from citizens all over the world in Tunisia’s Pavilion where visitors go through an actual stamping of a passport. Here, you are given a passport and Visa to be a citizen of the world. Once you place your fingerprint (a word which Tunisians practiced in a café where I had lunch days before the Biennale opened), you have access everywhere ― a strong critique of the migrant issues.
It’s one of those concepts with a message that gets easily transmitted to everyone. While many see it as a fun exercise (me included), it gets you involved in one of the most serious discourses in this year’s Biennale. So now he is a citizen of the world. So declares Tunisia. So declares a concept aware of its encompassing spaces.

WHAT’S EATING THE MEGA-STAR? The viral photo of the husband of Sharon Cuneta, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, holding hands with Sen. Risa Hontiveros after visiting Sen. Leila de Lima in detention, turned out to be manipulated. It is suspected to be the reason for the Megastar’s decision to fly to the US by herself and stay there alone for over a week now.
Whatever the reason she left, it is none of our business. Besides taking care of her family, she has been occupied coaching on The Voice Teens, and working on a comeback album. She also hinted about wanting to buy a new property in the US. When Sen. Francis ran for the Senate, she sold her existing real property there.
The Megastar finally explained on Facebook: “In the past few weeks I’ve had two people die on me. A favorite auntie is sick. The start of filming for my movie with Star Cinema has been moved to September. I owe so much money (on very good investments, not stupid stuff) and I have NO ONE IN THE WORLD TO HELP ME.
“So I left Manila. Being somewhere else lets you see things from a whole different perspective. Can’t be effective as a mother, wife, sister, aunt, co-worker, friend, etc., etc., etc., if YOU yourself are lost and need to breathe.
“Siguro naman may karapatan din ako na malungkot at mapagod?
“I am human being. I want to rest my mind, body, heart and soul. I am tired of being all things to all people, and I realize no one has really done or been the same for me. I think there are only few of us who are like that.
“I should be retired and living off the fruits of my labor now, but instead, I work like a horse when what I should do is working only on what I wish to and only when I want to. No one will save me from my concerns, mostly created by other people who, unlike me and some I work with now, call everything wrong ‘just business.’
“No more Daddy. Only God. And my health and energy and will to work. My family, Friends and fans. These are all and I know for now they are more than enough. I am tired though I love what I do so much.
“I have changed inside me. I feel it very much. I still cannot put my finger on it, but I know one thing is that I am no longer taking any b_______t from anyone. I am tired of having to often ‘act’ in real life too when I should be acting only in front of the cameras. It is scary to realize that you have gotten so used to acting like your life is perfect the minute you have an audience, and knowing that you’d rather be on the floor crying. Maybe that’s’ why my laugh over the years has only gotten bigger. I have become and expert at compartmentalizing my feelings that I can focus instantly on topic and let whatever my problem is take a backseat for the moment. That can be a good thing, but again, that scares me.
“I am tired. More inside that outside.
“But I am eternally grateful to God for His unbelie­vable blessings and am trying my best to be a good steward of them.”
As a professional, she has the right to seek her own action. She has explained taking a short break from work as she had been through “way too much pain and fatigue in the past few weeks,” signs of menopause. Now 51, she is reaching the end of her menopausal stage and it will be soon over.

‘ANG BABAE SA SEPTIC TANK’ RETURNS TO THE US. This Quantum Films feature directed by Marlon Rivera and written as Cris Martinez was the Philippines’ official entry to the 2012 Oscar Foreign Language Film competition. It will soon screen at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. About a three-person indie filmmaking team — all middle-class, English-speaking, young and ambitious — their grand plan is to make it big in the film world.
Philippine films have been well-received at glamorous international film festivals, and they have just the right story to satisfy the appetite of the global film elites: A desperate mother of seven kids in a Metro Manila slum who has no choice, but to pimp out one of her kids — initially a girl, but later switched to a boy for sure-win dramatic effect.
On top of exploiting the “poverty porn” formula, the filmmakers experiment with every possible stylistic cliché, from heart-wrenching docudrama to campy musical, to maximize the emotional response. This witty comedy, a box-office success, proves that Filipino filmmakers are not afraid to poke fun at themselves and their colleagues.