MONUMENTS TO PEACE
BORN IN COTOBATO CITY, RAY MUDJAHID PONCE MILLAN, BETTER KNOWN
as Kublai, grew up knowing the realities of war and chaos. “Hindi biro. Hindi pwedeng walang gawin (It’s no joke. You can’t not do something about it),” he says.
like that in real life, too?
Outside of Mindanao, Kublai is responsible for a monument at the mass grave for victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Palo, Leyte. The memorial spans 60 feet, the whole distance of the mass grave. The massive piece is made up of a 14foot curving main structure, which is the estimated height of the devastating storm surge.
Surrounding the structure are figures that symbolize volunteers and survivors. In the middle are figures releasing a flock of birds.
Kublai’s piece serves not only as a solemn tribute to the fallen, but a beacon of hope for the people of Leyte.
“That’s what is challenging about being an artist,” he says, noting the range of emotions that he taps into to create a piece. “Collective pain, suffering and also happiness.”
More recently, Kublai has busied himself constructing “structures, not just sculptures.”
Part of the artist’s advocacy is creating public parks. For him, parks have an even deeper connection to the community. They embrace the viewer, he says, as the viewer takes time to sit in the park. With his public parks, the community actually gets to live and use his works of art.
When STARweek contacted
Kublai for an interview, he was busy overseeing the construction of a public park in Maguindanao, where Kublai’s art will soon do its part in uplifting the community.
In every work that Kublai creates, there are symbols of peace, whether in the doves flying through the sculptures, or in what the monuments themselves stand for.
“If I can make a difference in this part of Mindanao, it’s creating happiness one place at a time,” he says.
As he continues to change the face of Mindanao, one municipality at a time, Kublai looks forward to nurturing the Mindanawon art scene as well. As a frequent guest at the Manila- and Visayas-based art fairs, Kublai once dreamed of getting his Mindanao-based artist friends together to create a similar conference down South. With a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, that dream will finally become a reality with the first ever Mindanao Art Fair and Conference happening in October 2019. Kublai says, the conference’s main theme is “traversing the river of creativity.” Mindanawon artists have to be grounded in their own culture and traditions, says Kublai. The river also refers to Mindano artists being close to nature and the spirit. “We will grow from there,” says Kublai on his hopes for the upcoming Mindanao Art Fair and Conference – an endeavor that will prove to be monumental not only in furthering Mindanawon art but more so in shaping the future of art in the Philippines.