WARM BODIES: Defending the Right to Dissent

WARM BODIES: Defending the Right to Dissent
An Exhibit on Freedom of Expression
Opening on January 26 (Friday), 4:30 p.m.
January 26 – February 17, 2024 | UP Fine Arts Gallery

Art Exhibit on Freedom of Expression to open at UP Fine Arts Gallery, Diliman

The UP Fine Arts Gallery in cooperation with the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP), invites you to the opening of WARM BODIES, an exhibit that explores how artists and cultural workers upheld freedom of expression amid challenging and dark times.

As we anticipate the official state visit of the United Nations Special Rapporter on Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan this week, the exhibit highlights this critical moment where the country’s record of upholding freedom of expression as a universal right is reviewed. That is was an artist—National Artist for Film and CAP founding Chairperson Lino Brocka (1939-1991)—who is credited to have the word “expression” included in the 1987 Philippine Constitution is not lost to a new generation of artists, who continue to stand against censorship, political repression, poor governance, and injustice today.

Curated by Lisa Ito, Warm Bodies features works from the UPCFA Permanent Art Collection by BenCab, Alfredo Liongoren, Elmer Borlongan, Imelda Cajipe-Endaya, and Leonilo Doloricon in conversation with new works by Abel Angelo & Jeune Aramburo (CAP), Boyet de Mesa, Ding Royales, George Burchett, Jef Carnay, Luke Warm, Max Santiago (BAYAN), Patreng Non, Raffy Lerma, RESBAK, Tarantadong Kalbo, Tokwa Peñaflorida, Toym Imao, and Worn Expressions.

The exhibition activates a conversation between the UPCFA’s Permanent Art Collection and works which served as “objects of demonstration” and “disobedient objects”, upacking the crises on human rights and reflects on how the struggle for freedom of expression and the redress of social grievances cuts and continues through time.

Warm Bodies is the first show in the Condition Reporting exhibition series of the UP Fine Arts Gallery, starting in 2024, that activates the Permanent Art Collection (PAC) of the UP College of Fine Arts and positions it in meaningful conversation with contemporary artworks, current practices, and extant archives.

The exhibit welcomes National Arts Month this February with “Empires of Memory”, a group exhibition of Lucylle Cawaling, Rommel Joson, Manuel Mesina III, Julien Tan, and Teta Tulay, and “The Aesthetics of Engagement” with Samantha Feleo and Jenny Suarez. The exhibit will be on view until February 17 at the Gallery Two, UP Fine Arts Gallery, Arts & Design Building West Hall, College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines Diliman. Gallery hours from Tuesdays to Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

We invite the public to the opening program will be on Jan. 26 (Friday), 4:30 p.m. at the G1 Lobby and will be held by CAP with the cooperation of the Bulwagan ng Dangal, Liongoren Post, Tin-aw Gallery, and Presidential Committee for Culture and the Arts in relation to the UP Day of Remembrance. Join us as we honor the past, resist the present, and fight for the right to express ourselves on January 26, 2024, from 5 pm to 7 pm, at the UP Fine Arts Gallery. #

#WeRemember #WeResist #FightToExpress

Original article here.