BEFORE March 28 approaches, try to view Muhon: Traces of an Adolescent City at the Saint Bro. Miguel Hall of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City.
With Metro Manila as the location in focus, a formidable list of Filipino artists and architects put forth their impressions on certain “muhon” or placemaker in their study of a city that, after rising from the ruins of the last world war, is adolescent in its struggle for identity.
The three-room exhibit especially put up at the new hall beside the chapel was formally opened on February 22 and was graced by architects Leandro Locsin Jr. of Leandro V. Locsin Partners (LVLP); Sudarshan Khadka Jr., an Architecture board topnotcher; Juan Paolo de la Cruz; Bambi Mañosa of Mañosa & Co., Inc.; and artist Poklong Anading, who did “Kilometer Zero.”
The curatorial team who came up with this jaw-dropping exhibition is LVLP’s Leandro Locsin Jr., Sudarshan Khadka, and JP de la Cruz. LVLP was founded by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin of Silay City.
Muhon was part of the 2016 Philippine exhibition in art and architecture at the Venice Biennale under the auspices of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda. Supported by the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Muhon begins its regional tour by exhibiting in Negros after a homecoming from Venice at the Met.
The modern Saint Bro. Miguel Hall had be redesigned into three smaller halls showcasing phases of the Megalopolis, i.e., History, Modernity, and Conjecture.
Nine artists and architects tackled the nine chosen Muhon and treated them according to the three phases of History, Modernity, and Conjecture.
These placemakers in Manila are: Pasig River (CIS Design Consultancy), Pandacan Bridge (Tad Ermitano), Ramon Magsaysay Building (8x8 Design Studio Co.), Makati Stock Exchange (LIMA Architecture), Kilometer Zero (Poklong Anading), Tahanang Pilipino (Mañosa & Co., Inc.), The Manila Mandarin Hotel (Jorge Yulo), Binondo (Mark Salvatus), and Philippine International Convention Center (Ed Calma).
Architects and would-be architects, and engineers will find many lessons in building not only edifices, but also in building a city or a settlement. Design is a result of intellect and skill and the local culture and the economy; each one is as significant as the rest.
Students and professionals in fields not related to Architecture will also discover that individuals all contribute to the formation of a city regardless of background and beliefs.
To aid a visitor around the exhibition, three screens are hanged on the wall of the last room and show texts and pictures to explain the meanings of the artifacts. Entrance to Muhon is free.
Come view, watch, mull over, ponder on, discuss, and interpret Muhon: Traces of an Adolescent City at the University of St. La Salle, Saint Bro. Miguel Hall until March 28. Next stop for the exhibition is in Mindanao.