Sites of Practice | Filipino Performance Art Abroad

Date: 3 November 2011, Thursday

Venue: NUS Museum

Please RSVP by 2 November at museum@nus.edu.sg

For enquiries, please call 6516 8428 / 6516 8817

Programme

4.30pm: Arrival of Guests

5.00pm: Opening Remarks by Amb. Minda Calaguian-Cruz, Philippine Ambassador to Singapore and Ahmad Mashadi, Head of NUS Museum

5.15pm: Talk and Performance by David Medalla

8.00pm: Launch of The Pocket Arts Guide

Sites of Practice: Filipino Performance Art Abroad, the anchor event of the Philippine Art Trek 2011, will be headlined by David Medalla, arguably the most thought-provoking artist to have emerged from the Philippines in the last half-century.

After a long hiatus, Medalla’s return to Asia will be highlighed by a lecture entitled Halo-Halo at Guinataan (Mix-Mix and Coconut Cream’d), where Medalla will evoke the memories of his formative years in the Philippines, dedicating his talk to the memory of his mother and in remembrance of the Filipina women who were his mentors. A performance entitled Bato-bato sa Langit ang Tamaan Huwag Magagalit (Stone-stone in Heaven (Sky) whoever Gets hit (by it) must not get angry), will see David Medalla with Adam Nankervis conduct a game that is used to pass the night away by relatives and friends of the Deceased during a Wake. The game begins with The Stone from Heaven being passed from person to person, upon whom it lands on, is invited to recite a poem or sing a song. Thus, the Deceased travels to heaven accompanied by the voices of his/her relatives and friends.

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David Medalla is a Filipino international artist. His work ranges from sculpture and kinetic art to painting, installation and performance art. Medalla constantly shifts his strategies and media; when one thinks one has him pinned down as a situationist, a surrealist, or a conceptualist, one is stumped as he continues to endlessly conceive other fantastic, often unrealisable schemes. His work stretches back to the sixties when he co-founded Signals Gallery in London and presented international kinetic art, among other art forms.

Sites of Practice is co-organised by the Embassy of the Philippines (Singapore) and NUS Museum.