Design Philippines show New York Filipino
The reception for haute Philippine furniture at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York City was critically positive, particularly from the astute segments of the New York design scene.
Design Philippines clearly belonged to the scene. In contrast to the prehistory of Philippine design, when entrée into global arenas was by virtue of an exotic, “native” look, Design Philippines had become a familiar presence with its bonhomie, relaxed modernity, and confidence in marrying local and global concepts.
Design Philippines was in IFCC a select group consisting of Kenneth Cobonpue, Ito Kish, Bon Ace, Vito Selma, Triboa Bay and TADECO Home. The Philippines’ Center for International Trade and Expositions Missions (CITEM) presented these design houses under the collective brand of Design Philippines, as it has in previous editions of this massive gathering of the world’s most prestigious furniture designers and manufacturers.
In assessing its IFCC experience from a retrospective view, two months after the event to give it proper distance, what remains indelible to CITEM are two clear wins.
Firstly, Design Philippines has come to cohere in the minds of all who encounter it, anywhere in the world, as a signature from a modern country aware of — but not inordinately bound to — its roots.
Secondly, the individual design houses are entirely different from each other, but collectively express a sense of delight—a joie de vivre—that is identifiable as entirely Filipino. It is a Filipino joy of life that, reflected in accoutrements offered to homes outside the Philippines, nevertheless exudes that lightness of being.
Kenneth Cobonpue, Ito Kish, Bon Ace, Vito Selma, Triboa Bay and TADECO Home cannot be mistaken as having come from any Southeast or South or East Asian country. Neither can any of them be confused with North American nor European brands. Their furniture and home accoutrements do not say “Asian” despite the tropical materials; nor do they convey a First World technological hauteur.
Instead: an ease with blending, juxtaposition, contrast, amalgamation, unexpected unity.
During the exhibit, the word “Philippine” as descriptive term appears to have offered itself as a perfect synonym for rare mixtures of lightness of being and extraordinary (and difficult) application to craftsmanship; of innovative modernity and old-fashioned technique; of strange and familiar form.
CITEM’s hindsight view of the experience of Design Philippines at IFCC 2015 thus focused on design itself, and the relationship of the word “Philippine” with a secure place in the global market.
Market share in at the global art capital is clearly dependent on a compelling projection of Philippine design as constant metamorphosis. There is a palpable sense of movement. Indeed, Kenneth Cobonpue’s Limb Trapeze is an image of motion. And Vito Selma’s lamps literally have moving components.
Bon Ace, marrying incongruous materials, and Ito Kish, playing with local gentry taste, expressed a controlled irreverence. TADECO Home and Triboa Bay both worked native materials in idioms of cultures outside the Philippines.
The collective impression that has lasted, well past the mid-year fair, is the sheer joy of free association, by designers who are disciplined by high technical mastery.
CITEM hence sees a Philippine niche in the global trade, that from all indications has large room for expansion, based on the elusive quality of joy of life. It is elusive to most cultures, but to Filipino high end designers, the quality seems to come naturally.
As an institution, CITEM’s appreciation of what has transpired this year, both in New York and in the furniture expo Milan earlier in the year, revolves around the crystallization of a Philippine aesthetic that is now quickly recognizable in the global high end furniture and home accoutrements market. It is an aesthetic that is based on the startling combination of surprise and enduring quality.
The crystallization had much to do with the curatorial hand of designer BudjiLayug, who, in IFCC New York, was determined to be severely disciplined in exhibition design. He did away with the full-on, show-all approaches of previous Philippine exhibits, and edited the pieces down to the best examples of each exhibitor.
The result was an exhibit that allowed each piece to breathe, as it were; and to appeal visually and in tactile ways to viewers in an environment in which clutter was totally absent.
It was because of closely controlled exhibition design that the collective quality of joie de vivre emerged with great clarity.
In evaluating the experience of Design Philippines in IFCC New York, therefore, CITEM’s attention was drawn, not only to the value of expert curatorial work and the collaborative spirit of all the selected exhibitors in projecting a unified, cohesive pitch to the market; but, more importantly, to the crucial role played by a wellinformed curator in bringing to clear light a common design spirit. That shared spirit was here-to-fore only intimated, or hinted, by the works of individual design houses.
Collectively, orchestrated by the curator, the exhibitors further strengthened each other’s strengths; and sparked understanding of each other’s sense of play. Through this approach, CITEM has test-run and documented a process that facilitated the emergence of no less than a Philippine design postmodernity.