Small talk
Gemma Cruz-Araneta shares her thoughts on curating HOCUS
It has been almost five decades since she last curated for the National Museum, where she first served as information officer prior to winning Miss International 1964, and later as a director. Now, Gemma Cruz-Araneta returns to where she started—this time as guest curator to an exhibition like no other. Titled HOCUS: The Hofileña and Custodio Paintings, the 26 paintings in the collection are the collaborative works of a lawyer and historian, Saul Hofileña Jnr, and a painter and art restoration specialist, Guy Custodio. Their artworks depict the Philippines in the 18th and 19th century under the Spanish colonisers. Cruz-Araneta did not know that Hofileña and Custodio—whose surnames formed the acronym HOCUS—have already been working together for years when she met them. The pair would show her their paintings to which she would provide insights from time to time. With her great interest in history and fascination with the colonial art style, she eventually raised the possibility of exhibiting their works and, of course, the best venue is where she traces back her early beginnings—the historic National Museum. HOCUS, which opened last April, will be available for viewing until 29 October 2017.
You have curated several exhibitions in the past; what sets HOCUS apart from all the others?
HOCUS is an unusual collection because each painting has two authors: lawyer-historian Saul Hofileña Jnr, who cannot paint to save his life, and artist Guy Custodio, who is wary of history. I don’t think there has ever been a painting collection with two authors.
How important is it for Filipinos today to revisit the Spanish colonial era through this exhibition?
Jose Rizal once wrote that to know a country, one must open the book of its past. So history is not just the past—it is in fact the path to understanding the present; it is an instrument with which we can chart our future course. Far from blaming the Spanish friars and colonisers for all our misfortunes, the HOCUS paintings explain what happened during those more than 300 years.
What was it like working with Hofileña and Custodio?
It was intense, frenzied, exciting. Atty Hofileña has an enormous library of primary sources, and when he met Guy in Bohol, he asked if he could paint his ideas on canvas or old wood. This has been going on for about four years. I suggested that they exhibit the HOCUS collection in the National Museum. Fortunately, both director Jeremy Barnes and assistant director Ana Labrador were also moved by the HOCUS collection and agreed that the National Museum of Fine Arts would be an excellent place to exhibit HOCUS.
How would you like museum visitors to interpret the paintings in the exhibition?
Each painting is like a chapter of our colonial history so I hope the viewer will be awed, enthralled, intrigued, or at least curious enough to decipher the symbols and unravel the mysteries until they get the HOCUS message. I hope it inspires them to read and study on their own.
Is there a particular piece at Hocus that struck you? If there is, could you tell us what made it special for you?
The “Lectores de Palabras Perdidas” (“Readers of Lost Words”) is colossal and powerful, that is why I made it the centrepiece of the exhibition. “Puente del Capricho” is poignant and nostalgic.