During what I thought would just be another relatively normal art event a few years back, I found myself in conversation with renowned art historian and art critic Cid Reyes. I’ve known him for some time and we’ve only exchanged pleasantries, but that afternoon, I was feeling exceptionally curious, and in our chat, he shared an anecdote I would never forget.
He had been on assignment in Davao when he thought of seeking out Victorio Edades, then already retired, for an interview. Without prior knowledge and contact info on Edades, Reyes asked a tricycle driver for help. As luck would have it, the driver knew and brought the young writer to the home of the artist credited for introducing modernism to the Philippines. Who could have thought that moment would set off a chain of events that would shape Philippine art history?
At ‘Lost Conversations’ launch, from left, Danny Jacinto, president, Museum Foundation of the Philippines; Gemma Cruz Araneta, vice president, Museum Foundation; Cid Reyes; Teng Ropa of TWBA; Jorell Legaspi, deputy director-general for museums, National Museum
Last week, Reyes shared this story during the launch of Lost Conversations at the National Museum of Fine Arts, but with more details. The idea to go look for Edades came to him after his interview with Manny Duldulao who had just released a coffee table book on Philippine art—an assignment given him by his then editor Jullie Yap Daza.
It was around 6 p.m. and Edades was already in his pajamas when Reyes arrived. He also met the artist’s American wife Jean, whose column How’s Your English? ran for years in The Manila Times.
“We had a nice, long, warm engaging conversation… which lasted almost (until) midnight,” Reyes recalled. “And the old man had so many stories.”
Edades asked Reyes to return the next day, and the young writer did, armed with more cassette tapes.
“And that was the start of it… I thought what a beautiful beginning for a series of interviews,” Reyes recalled at the launch.
Reyes had no idea that his interview recordings some 50 years ago would hold so much value today. Invaluable perhaps is a better way of describing them.
With the help of technology, the audio had been cleaned, re-recorded by audio house Sound Design, and can now be heard—or watched—in the ArticulatePH YouTube channel.
ArticulatePH was conceived by Melvin Mangada, chairman and chief creative officer of TBWA/SMP, and it is envisioned to be a space for meaningful conversations with the country’s leading artists, gallerists, and cultural trailblazers. Reyes’ interviews can now be accessed in ArticulatePH YouTube.
The remastered audio from Reyes’ interviews provide a different perspective for lovers of art who may be hearing some of the famous Filipino artists for the first time.
The nuances in the interviews, the pause the subjects take, and even the distinct pitch of their voices make these giants in the art scene more human and relatable.
More importantly, it gives lovers of art an idea of just how much different things were at the time. A different environment then meant difference in philosophies and thinking as compared to today.
And yet, the true nature of art remains—or at least the basics of it.
Nena Saguil, an abstract artist who left the Philippines for Spain at age 40, is described as a “mystic recluse” by those closest to her. A pioneering artist who painted very detailed works while doing odd jobs after moving to Paris, Saguil found joy and contentment after leaving behind her comfortable life in the Philippines.
And in Reyes’ interview with her in Paris in 1975, we get to understand that a bit more.
“The painting cannot be a painting without having the basic foundation of good composition,” Saguil says in the recorded interview. “Of course the onlookers are free to think whatever they like of the painting. But the most important thing is the necessità interiore again as (Vassily) Kandinsky said. It is a voyage to search for the absolute… I never had the feeling of being tired or being bored with what I’m doing. I’m always happy doing it.”
With Lost Conversations, Reyes now says that he wants today’s young Filipino artists to realize the rich tradition that has been handed down to them.
“That now they have a legacy that they are obliged to continue, a level of excellence that they must pursue and aspire to and that way before their lives, we had Filipino artists who worked in the same way, went through the same struggle that they are going through now,” Reyes said at the launch. “These artists triumphed against the difficulties and challenges and managed despite these problems to create tremendously excellent works of Philippine art.”
For as long as art exists, the work of arts writers like Reyes as well as those inspired by him will always remain important.
But preserving the artists’ voices and making them available for future generations should lead to a better understanding of the life these remarkable individuals dared to live.
“I have always believed that oral history is of paramount value even though we have what you call written history, written by historians after the fact,” Reyes said. “But with oral history, which is history being lived at the very moment, is history as we say, straight from the horse’s mouth, from the artist’s mouth, and you cannot change that. The artists who gave two, three hours of their time, I am so grateful to them. This is my way of thanking them.”
Lost Conversations is made possible with the support of the National Museum of the Philippines and the Museum Foundation of the Philippines.
Email the author dxmatillawrites@gmail.com
