TO REPRESENT women in the Mindanao art scene, Bai Hinang, a female artist group, will be launching their artistic interpretation of Mindanao’s past and present at Marco Polo Hotel, Davao City on October 15 to 27.

“It (the group) wants to create an opportunity for female artists this time because we all know that the art community is more or less a male-dominated community. So we wanted to create an open avenue wherein new and old artists can exhibit,” artist Amanda Fe Echevarria yesterday said during Habi at Kape media forum at Abreeza Mall, Davao City.

The exhibit will feature 22 artworks from 11 female artists all expressing their creative interpretation of the theme, “Mindanao: Then and Now.”

The 11 exhibiting artists are Elenita Dumlao, Rita Bustamante, Amanda Echevarria, Dadai Joaquin, Jing Rabat, Mean Tan Guinoo, Maria Amor delos Santos, Gloria May Lariego, Jacinta Eve Sevilla, Tanya Gaisano Lee, and Anne Worsely.

“These are mostly paintings. Curation-wise we are very much specific in terms of size to really create a brand of Bai Hinang. It aims to create a very clean and professional branding for each artist,” Echevarria said, adding that media of most paintings will be in acrylic, mixed media, and oil.

She said, “They each tackle different issues revolving around change such as the concept of beauty, the evolution of architectural structures, and the human influence of environment.”

Bai Hinang is the first female artist group in Davao. The name Bai means princess or woman, while Hinang an indigenous Dabawenyo verb connotes “to create, or to build.”

At present, the four-month-old group has 37 artist members.