IF YOU want publicity, the mall is the way to go. With the high foot traffic, you get the audience. If you invite guests, convenient parking spaces and a cool venue are among the conveniences. This is why more artists are holding exhibitions in public spaces.
Two more exhibits happened this October in Abreeza Mall - Kabunyan de Guia’s “A Joy Ride to Handurawan” and “A Visual Art Exhibit”, a fundraising event for Patches of Green Mindanao Foundation.
Kabunyan took off from his hometown in Baguio City to relocate in Davao. He could have traveled the convenient way, instead he drove his 1975 Volkswagen camper van (“combi” as many of us know it). He journeyed through Banawe rice terraces down to Mindoro, across the Visayas and Mindanao to get to this destination taking his passion for art along for the ride.
His van is now parked at the mall and around it, his art and his kids. “A Joy Ride to Handurawan” is a collaboration with his two sons. The kids drew and the father turned it into mosaic sculptures. The result is a whimsical tableau. Mythical-like characters taking a journey in a real-world vehicle reminding the audience of childhood, when everything is possible through imagination.
“I want to create a small bubble -- a world where people can go back to their childhood and re-experience the mind of a child. I want to awaken the young and old to a world that has forever been inside of us. When we lose our playfulness and childlike power to skip and hop across different realms it is like we stop breathing and before we know it we are trapped and reliant on gadgets and machines to survive instead of imagination and play. Let us not forget to be playful in life!” said Kabunyan.
At the Alveo showroom, 12 Davao visual artists gathered to help a cause. At “A Visual Art Exhibit,” each brought an artwork or two to display and sell. Proceeds of the sales will help the programs of Patches of Green Mindanao Foundation, Inc.
“The foundation is very grateful to the artists who have involved themselves as part of the solution to address needs of our growing society,” said Amelia Bonifacio, Patches of Green VP & Visual Art Exhibit Project coordinator.
Many of us are not familiar with the charitable body. It’s “a foundation leading and caring for the poorest among us in our communities.” Several projects have been fulfilled for the unprivileged since 2006. A patch of green a time will eventually create a field of lush greenery.
The art exhibit proved to be one union that can help their endeavor. Fans of the artists and friends of the foundation trooped to the exhibit area to show their support.
Art can beautify the world in so many ways.
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