Exhibition

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Ayaw Pailad

Christopher Zamora

May 3 - June 2, 2018

Gallery 4

Ayaw Pailad (Huwag Magpapaloko)

Christopher Zamora continues his practice and draws inspiration from music and his environment. Central to this collection is the Visayan song Ayaw Pailad (Huwag magpapaloko/Do not be deceived) by progressive group Musikang Bayan.

Zamora creates a lexicon for a visual language influenced by his immersion in urban poor and rural communities. He candidly translates this to city and landscapes burrowed with political meaning. He pays tribute to Antipas Delotavo and appropriates the 1978 “Itak sa puso ni Mang Juan” to emphasize the unchanging material conditions of the Filipino workforce as apparent in the recent lay-offs in a beverage company – a forty-year difference from the time of Delotavo’s work that does not show any improvement for the common wo/man. His imagery code switches from direct to metaphorical to articulate an ideological commitment, but at the same time hints at a personal struggle of communicating his intentions.

He visualizes the essence of the song to stress a dichotomy of circumstances that prove to endure decades of contradictions in society. He humanizes the narrative with portraits that express very resolved interests. He expounds the series to flesh out tensions in a tug of war for power and frames it to reveal not an imbalance but of how power can find equilibrium and can even be, tipped to a different side.

Zamora transcends the idea of the artist as keen observer, and approaches the discourse dialectically to agitate action away from mere complacency and distance hidden in the excuse of neutral observations. ***

Ayaw Pailad

By: Musikang Bayan

*Translations by Jaja Necosia, Erika Rae Cruz, SA

Kung ang kalambuan dugang pagpahimulos;

Kung ang panaghi-usa dugang pagkabahin-bahin;

Kung ang kalinaw labaw pang kagubot;

Kung ilang demokrasya ang kadenang gapos;

Koro:

Ayaw pagpailad sa ilang panglinla;

Tan-awa ang buhat luyo sa istorya;

Wala’y unod ang mga saad nila;

Kay kitang mga kabus, kabus lang gihapon;

Busa sa pagkigbisog kita magpadayon;

Kung ang ilang bayani mao ang traidor;

Kung ang manluluwas maoy tigpahimulos;

Kung ang manggiluy-on maoy tigpangawlaw;

Kung ang nag-alagad mao ang naghari.

Kung ang pag-unlad

ay dagdag pang-aabuso;

Kung ang pagkakaisa

ay dagdag pagkakawatak-watak;

Kung ang kapayapaa’y dala ay gulo;

Kung ang kanilang demokrasya ay kadenang nakagapos;

Koro:

Huwag padadala sa kanilang panlilinlang;

Tignan ang gawa sa likod ng salita;

Walang laman ang mga pangako nila;

Dahil tayong mahihirap, mananatiling mahirap;

Kaya sa pakikibaka tayo’y magpatuloy;

Kung ang kanilang bayani ang siyang traydor;

Kung ang tagapagligtas ang siyang nagsasamantala;

Kung ang maawain ang siyang nagnanakaw

Kung ang naglilingkod ang siyang naghahari.

If progress means more abuses;

If unity means more division;

If peace means more turmoil;

If their democracy are chains that shackles;

Chorus:

Do not be fooled by their deceptions;

Read between the lines;

Empty are their promises;

Because paupers like us will remain poor;

So our struggle must not rest;

If their heroes are actually the traitors;

If the saviors are actually the exploiters;

If the patrons are actually the thieves;

If those who vow to serve are actually the rulers.