Art in Public

Mainstreaming art for the next generation

WHO will be the next Juan Luna or Kublai Millan?

Perhaps, this is close to the questions that a group of artists posed when they were just planning to launch the recent art exhibit at the People’s Park in Davao City last week.

With the younger generation becoming more drawn into their computer screens nowadays and those who are into arts becoming older, the number of artists and those who appreciate art are declining.

That is why to encourage more people to appreciate and engage in art, and to make it inclusive and closer to the community, the Art Between One Thousand Up to Twenty Thousand (About) featured the works

of over 30 artists from five Davao and Manila-based art groups namely the Big and Small Art Company, Durer Art Gallery, Tabula Rasa, United Durian Artists, and Guhit Pinas Davao in an exhibit dubbed as “Art in Public.”

“I think this is the first time in Mindanao that an art exhibit was done in the park,” said United Durian Artists President Alex Alagon, who was among the art exhibitors in the event, in an interview.

“Kami nga mga artist tigulang na, kinsa ang mosunod sa amoa? So karon manglihok ta to promote art (We, the artists, are already old so who will follow our steps? So it is only right that we should work now to promote art),” Alagon said.

The children now are spending more time in front of computers and the need to awaken the public in art is a must, Alagon said.

Alagon also emphasized that art plays an important role in promoting the culture of the place but according to him, here in Davao, only few people are showing interest in arts and culture.

“This (the art exhibit) is a good step. When I was in other countries, their parks were filled with people painting and playing music. Their government is very supportive in the arts,” Alagon said.

The group of artists who joined the exhibit believed that with the frequent launching of similar activities, they would be able to make people develop interest in art as well and it will also help raise their awareness on the matter.

According to Alagon, artists must become like a virus in influencing others to develop enthusiasm in art.

“We all have gifts and we should release these," he said.

“The richest place on earth is the cemetery because there are a lot of paintings there that were not painted, music that were never composed, inventions that were never made because [the artists] did not show them that is why we should all unveil our gifts,” Alagon said, emphasizing that everyone must showcase the skills or gifts they have that may not have yet been discovered.

During the exhibit, paintings and sculptures depicting different messages were made available to the visitors and guests who dropped by at the park. The exhibit ran for two days, March 18-19.

We all have gifts and we should release these