This Is Not A Corner Store

Dominic Zinampan

On 4 December 2020, the Papaya Shop, a project of Green Papaya Art Projects, was officially launched on Instagram (@greenpapaya.shop). Developed towards the end of a tremendously difficult year marked by various tragedies on top of the global pandemic and the worsening political situation in the country, the shop signals Papaya’s resolve to persist, despite having decided to close numerous times in the past.

Papaya, the Philippines’s longest-running independent and multidisciplinary platform, was founded on 1 May 2000 by Donna Miranda and Norberto “Peewee” Roldan primarily as an exhibition space before broadening its range of activities. It has organised screenings, gigs, discussions, performances, and off-site projects, initiated collaborations, facilitated residencies for local and international artists, and developed special projects like publications. In 2017, Papaya decided that it would close on its 20th anniversary and, in preparation, started working closely with the Asia Art Archive (AAA) to archive its materials. Although the date of closing had been moved to 2021 prior to the pandemic, it has since been postponed indefinitely in light of the devastating turn of events.

Aside from an exhibition to celebrate its 20th year, Papaya had aimed to get a section of its archives uploaded on the AAA website within the year, as well as publish two books on the Visayas Islands and Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference (VIVA ExCon), the country’s longest-running artistsrun biennial which Peewee co-founded in 1990. However, on

15 March, after months of unease, the Philippine government confirmed the first local transmission of COVID-19 in the country and enforced strict quarantine measures in Metro Manila. Archiving came to an abrupt pause and work on the publications progressed slowly as the team began working remotely.

It was around late March when it became apparent to us that the 20th anniversary exhibition could no longer proceed. We started to realise that it was going to take a much longer time for things to get better. For the first few months of the lockdown, there was barely any activity as we were individually adjusting to the disturbing “new normal.” Given how the government was responding then, it is unsurprising — but nonetheless infuriating — how a year has passed and nothing has changed. If anything, things just became worse.

The first poster for Death is a Portal.

On 1 May, despite the terrible situation, we proceeded to commemorate Papaya’s 20th anniversary online, albeit in a tenor far from celebratory, by launching ‘Death is a Portal’, a series of 20 black-and-white text-based posters that sought to amplify demands for justice, criticise the government’s response to the pandemic, and express support for frontliners, activists, and oppressed sectors. Less than a week after, the first text in our ‘Throwback Thursday’ series, an ongoing series intended to activate Papaya’s archives through personal recollections from our community along with other archival documents, was published. Both ‘Throwback Thursday’ and ‘Death is a Portal’ indicate Papaya’s reorientation and renewed focus on online projects.

A month after, on the morning of 2 June, a fire broke out in the furniture store next to Papaya’s space. The fire quickly spread to Papaya’s second-floor backroom where most of the archives were stored. Although the space was decimated, 70% of the archival materials narrowly survived the accident. Our community was shocked by the news and many instantly extended their support through messages, donations, and various offers to help, from providing a new space to pitching ideas for fundraisers. Among these offers was one from the Lopez Museum and Library (LML) team who generously offered their facilities and expertise in restoring the materials. From June to November, Papaya worked alongside the LML team in taking inventory, drying, fumigating, and cleaning the surviving materials.

Papaya’s former office at Kamuning where most of our archival materials were stored.

Shortly after the fire, we were also invited by the GoetheInstitut to apply for their International 2020 Relief Fund for Organisations in Culture and Education (Hilfsfonds). We received news that our application was approved in the middle of September. Aimed at recovering the archives and resuming archival work after the fire, the grant enabled us to re-establish our office and archives facility, continue with the digitisation of archival material, and develop online platforms designed to broaden the accessibility of knowledge and resources to our community and the greater public. As such, we were able to renovate our satellite location along Scout Rallos Street to accommodate the return of the archives from LML. Additionally, we were also able to design and launch our website as well as a wiki for ‘VIVA ExCon: The Community Archives Project’ in late December.

The Death is a Portal zine containing all of the 20 posters posted on our social media.

Green Papaya 20 Years Commemorative poster by Bacolod-based artist Ginoe. Available at @greenpapaya.shop on Instagram.

A poster in production at Papaya’s Scout Rallos space. Image by Kiko Nuñez.

It was from these conditions that Papaya Shop emerged: it was a part of Papaya’s shift to online projects designed to engage its community in response to both the pandemic and the fire, and it was also launched at a time when the grants we had received shortly after the fire were about to end. There was a need to augment the donations we had received so as to proceed working on archiving and publications.

We began conceptualising the shop in October and a team was assembled ad hoc to handle production, online promotion, orders and shipping. Among the first items made available were Papaya’s studio assistant Ramie “Apid” Jiloca’s assemblages from 2018 as well as Peewee’s collages. The ‘Death is a Portal’ series was revisited, and designed by TOFU Projects in the format of a zine. In the following month, the production of limited- edition '20 Years Commemorative' posters commenced, a series that was created in lieu of the 20th anniversary physical exhibition. Papaya commissioned 20 artists to contribute designs.

Similar to recent Papaya projects like ‘Throwback Thursday' and 'Right People, Wrong Timing’, which was a series of 23 texts on defunct and dormant Asian arts initiatives published on Papaya’s digital platforms from August to December, the shop is influenced by an archival impulse that emerged from the predetermined death of Papaya lingering in our headspace. The shop is likewise inclined towards activating Papaya’s archive, albeit obliquely: for one, the commemorative posters feature artists who have worked with Papaya both long ago and in the recent past. Many were also overjoyed to see the works of Apid, who has been with Papaya since 2000, foregrounded in the shop. Additionally, aside from plans to include typical merchandise like bags and T-shirts, we are also in the process of putting forward more products inspired by materials from the archive, such as documentation of previous exhibitions and projects mounted at or by Papaya, in addition to works in its collection.

But the shop could not have been brought into fruition, and Papaya would not have survived the year, had it not been for the overwhelming love and support we received from our community in a year with a global pandemic and worsening political climate. The situation was compounded by a devastating fire and a painful dis-association with a former colleague. These events should have forced us to close prematurely. However, the responses we received after the fire bolstered our spirits and strengthened our resolve to continue. As such, we count ourselves fortunate. After 20 years of sustaining itself primarily through grants, its members’ own pocket money, the occasional fundraiser, and post-fire donations, Papaya remains hopeful for its future, and the shop helps Papaya pursue this future.

Green Papaya Shop. Instagram: @greenpapaya.shop.