“I like to keep things interesting by hanging up artworks that serve as conversation pieces” —Agnes Huibonhoa
overall look, and the Persian carpets on the floor add a bit more warmth.”
Art is another thing that sets this particular consulate apart from its peers. As one ent ers the consulate, the first thing that one sees is the amount of rather expertly curated art on the walls—mostly the work of local artists, save for a distinctive mixed-media piece depicting a geisha with demurely downcast eyes. This piece by Bali-based Spaniards Mersuka Dopazo and Teresa Calderón serves to emphasise the space’s feminine aesthetic with its soft colours and delicate brushstrokes. For Huibonhoa, it was a painting she could not get out of her mind.
“I first saw the painting when it w as on display at [the Modus Art Gallery] in Paris,” she says of the piece. “The face of the g eisha caught my eye and I kept thinking about it. W hen I came back to Manila, I was worried that someone else had bought the painting; there were others in the gallery at the time I w as there. But I was able to contact the gallery, then the artists, and the painting was soon shipped to me.”
The Dopazo- Calderón painting is just one of several pieces that add colour and character to Huibonhoa’s homey workplace. In the open layout sitting room that spills over into the dining area, a pair of Isabel Diaz’s floral canvases blooms on the walls, transforming the space into an urban bower. In one spot, abstract pieces by Jigger Cruz add a hint of modernity here. To one side, a woven version of one of National Artist Benedicto Cabrera’s Sabel paintings—part of his collaboration with Dutch carpet company Moooi—occupies a large section of the wall, its hints of brown and ochre complementing the soft shades of the interiors. As a stark contrast, there is a predominantly jet-black abstract painting by Nicole Coson that hangs in the dining area, as well as Ronald Ventura’s surreal black-and-white illustration of a crouching human form, a tangle of vines in place of its head. An Isabel Diaz canvas adds a feminine touch; (opposite, from top) Huibonhoa’s portrait by Rupert Jacinto has pride of place in the dining area; Oriental artefacts complement the green and white master’s suite