Inquirer RED: 2017 June

Expressions and Objects 20 E

in w. qu

N

w ir er

JU

w

17

Venice Biennale

.n et e /r d

RED JUNE.indd 1

08/06/2017 6:48 PM

RED JUNE.indd 2

08/06/2017 6:48 PM

CONTENTS

EDITOR’S NOTE

ON THE RADAR 4

Truth is, we were supposed to shoot a cover, but we were given the run-around and I was just not up for it anymore. So when people say, “All things happen for a reason,” it holds true for this issue, because now, we got to put Venice Biennale on the cover—something I had wanted to do for years.

I used to attend as many gallery openings as I could because I enjoyed the experience of viewing art in an exhibition setting, but I stopped because I felt the scene started to become too cliqueish. Now, slowly but surely, I am finding myself entering galleries once more (hardly during show openings, however) enjoying works of both old and new artists I admire. I guess it’s just really about that: Finding the happy medium that works for me. That’s what I am slowly trying to learn, not just in art but in a lot of aspects in life.

I hope this issue brings you as much joy as it did to us as we were working on it. The cover excited the RED team; it’s something new to the magazine. And yes, in producing this issue, we also learned how to find a happier (if not better) way of dealing with surprises.

Classic brands take on new inspirations

INSPIRED 8

The Drawing Room gives artists more room for creativity

ATTIRED 10

It’s a fresh look for a man about town

ART 14

Angel Velasco Shaw curates two simultaneous exhibitions

ADMIRED 17

Venice Biennale puts the spotlight on global issues

EMPOWERED 25

Gaston Damag sticks to his Ifugao roots

@riarecommends

POLITICS 26

Martial Law, then and now On the cover:

“Imitation of Christ” by Italian artist Roberto Cuoghi at the press preview of the 57th International Art Exhibition Biennale in Venice.

Photography: Vicenzo Pinto/AFP

This page: sandal in honey calfskin and saddle nail, Hermès, Greenbelt 3

Group Publisher Bea J. Ledesma Editor in Chief Ria Prieto Creative Director Nimu Muallam Copy Editor September Grace Mahino Editorial Assistant Tisha Ramirez Staff Photographer Patrick Segovia Account Executive Liza Jison

Contributing Writers Bambina Olivares-Wise, Olivia

Sylvia Estrada, Marta Lovina, Catherine Marciano/AFP, Fiachra Gibbons/AFP, Kelly Vasquez/AFP, and Ella Ide/AFP

Contributing Photographers Vicenzo Pinto/AFP, AnneChristine Poujoulat/AFP, Valery Hache/AFP

Board Chairperson Alexandra Prieto-Romualdez SVP and Group Sales Head, Inquirer Group of Companies Pepito Olarte AVP, Sales Ma. Katrina Mae Garcia-Dalusong Head of Operations and Business Development Lurisa Villanueva Business and Distribution Manager Rina Lareza Sales Inquiries Email: sales@hip.ph Telephone No: +63 (2) 403 8825 local 239

FOLLOW US ON

Inquirer RED Magazine-OFFICIAL

@inquirerRED

@inquirerred

Want to see the other issues of Inquirer RED Magazine? Check out inquirer.net/red Inquirer RED Magazine is a monthly luxury magazine published by Hinge Inquirer Publications.

RED is available at Fully Booked for free. For subscription inquiries, please contact 0917-5854870 or visit go.hip.ph/subscribe.

RED JUNE.indd 3

08/06/2017 6:49 PM

MINO

ON THE RADAR

New Life

Classic brands take on fresh twists

Unmistakable Design

Use your creativity to design your home with versatile pieces from Minotti’s Lawrence seating system. Depending on the configuration of your space, you can combine and arrange the furniture according to your desired style and preferences.

The Lawrence comes in two models, either with a high or low armrest; the higher armrest is thinner while the lower armrest gives the couch more space for cushions and for guests to lounge. The one-piece seats are highlighted by graphic square-shaped stitching, which brings new life to a traditional technique like embroidery. For that extra touch of luxury, Minotti used only the highest quality materials such as Cervo leather, a natural material famed for its softness and grain.

Mix and match this seating system with pieces that you might already have in your home and pick the textile that best suits your personal style.

Minotti Manila, GF Units 106 and 107 Fort Victoria, 5th Avenue cor. 23rd St., Taguig

Natural Appeal

Swiss skincare brand La Prairie launched their new store design in Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Developed by their in-house chief architect Stana Pijunovic, the new look is inspired by the elegance of Swiss contemporary architecture. The brand’s new visual merchandising aesthetic is tied more closely to nature with the use of wood and mineral elements, and set up within the store are commissioned sculptures that represent La Prairie’s skincare collection.

RED JUNE.indd 4

08/06/2017 6:49 PM

MINOTTI RED (RP)_GIUGNO 2017_Layout 1 13/04/17 08:54 Pagina 1

M A N I L A

BY LIVING INNOVATIONS CORP. GF UNITS 106 AND 107 FORT VICTORIA 5TH AV., CORNER 23RD STREET, FORT BONIFACIO, GLOBAL CITY, TAGUIG, METRO MANILA, PHILIPPINES T. +632 830 2230 - INFO@LIVINGINNOVATIONS.PH CUSTOMISED INTERIOR DESIGN SERVICE

RED JUNE.indd 5

YANG SEATING SYSTEM RODOLFO DORDONI DESIGN

MINOTTI.COM

08/06/2017 6:49 PM

RESORT 2018 Mythic Proportions

Chanel’s La Modernité de l’Antiquité collection puts a modern spin on ancient Grecian style, with a bust of Venus sitting atop a mantle in Coco Chanel’s Rue Cambon apartment serving as Karl Lagerfeld’s muse. Unifying the looks are column-heeled gladiator sandals in bright teal and orange.

Prehistoric Chic

Utility jackets and chunky knits were seen at Dior’s Resort show in Calabasas, California, with artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri inspired by the cave paintings in the Lascaux cave as well as by monsieur Christian Dior’s 1951 Ovale collection. Chiuri’s portrayal of the cave paintings were blown up and printed on silk dresses, dyed in rust and tan and featuring square necklines and corseted bodices.

Sea Fairer

Jimmy Choo’s pre-fall 2017 collection drew inspiration from the nautical aesthetic, with the shoes sporting a contemporary masculine design. The label’s signature tassled loafers come in two new fabrics: blue dried suede with scarlet piping, and woven leather in navy and gold. Other pieces in the collection include moccasin-style chukka boots, suede brogues, and sneakers with a plimsoll silhouette.

RED JUNE.indd 6

Sporty Spice

Miuccia Prada’s goal for the label’s latest collection was to take a modernist approach. Black nylon, usually seen on backpacks and purses, was used to make sportswear while the more delicate pastel-hued tops, pants, and dresses were printed with James Jean’s illustrations of rabbits and lilies.

Eastern Direction

Nicolas Ghesquière took inspiration from Japanese culture for Louis Vuitton’s latest cruise collection, partnering with Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto. The models, sporting Kabuki makeup, walked down the runway in layered garments of various prints and textures, though the true standouts of the collection were the sequined dresses with illustrations of samurais.

Stay Golden

The world’s first luxury sportswatch celebrates its 40th anniversary in yellow gold. With its first precious metal watch released in 1977, Audemars Piguet created a new series of extra thin timepieces to celebrate the landmark. The 18-carat gold Jumbo Royal Oak comes in two phases: classic blue, with the blue dial contrasting with the case and bracelet, and the more monochromatic vintageinspired champagne.

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

SPECIAL FEATURE

Guiltless Vanity Burt’s Bees adds a new line to their all-natural products WORDS TISHA RAMIREZ PHOTOGRAPHY JAN BAUTISTA AND JILL FERNANDEZ

From lip balms to moisturizers, Burt’s Bees takes it to the next level when it comes to all-natural cosmetics. The latest addition to their wide range of products are the Burt’s Bees lipsticks, made of 100 percent natural ingredients that are moisturizing: Beeswax, vitamin E, moringa oil, which is rich with fatty acids, and the skin elasticity-improving raspberry seed oil.

Aside from moisturizing the lips, they also offer full coverage with a smooth, satin finish. They are also taking an extra step by using post-consumer recycled materials for the packaging. Sixty percent of the recyclable packaging is made of post-consumer content.

These eight-hour moisture lipsticks come in 18 vibrant and versatile shades, ranging from perfect nudes like the Nile-Nude to plum hues like the Brimming Berry and perfect pinks like the Doused Rose. This year, Burt’s Bees added four new shades to their lipstick collection: Crimson Coast, Doused Rose, Orchid Ocean, and Wine Wave.

From top to bottom: Crimson Coast, Suede Splash, Lily Lake, Wine Wave, Juniper Water, Brimming Berry, Doused Rose Burt’s Bees lipsticks are available at Beauty Bar, SM Beauty Department Stores, selected Watsons branches.

Also available online via Zalora, Lazada, and Sephora

RED JUNE.indd 7

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

INSPIRED

B

k n la

lS ate

In its

new home, The Drawing

Roo m

e xp

and sc

rea tiv e

fr

rs tie on

WOR

DS T ISH

AR AM

IRE ZP

HO TO GR

AP

HY

PA TR

IC

KS

EG

OV

IA

With three sections of the gallery holding about 10 shows a year, The Drawing Room’s new space at The Alley at Karrivin gives contemporary art a new and more constant home. Owner Jun Villalon explains why they chose to move to the new space: “Our first gallery was at Metropolitan

RED JUNE.indd 8

Avenue, and it was much smaller. We decided to look for a bigger space to offer our artists a bigger venue for their exhibitions.” To aid in this process, he asked architect J. Antonio Mendoza to design the new gallery. “This used to be a warehouse where people would train dogs.

When we came in, it was really just cement floor and walls, nothing else.” Now, guests entering the space are be greeted by a high ceiling, art installations, and two gates at the back of the room that lead to Villalon’s office.

In designing the space, Villalon and Mendoza

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

“There wasn’t much of an adjustment, because a bigger space would offer the artists more flexibility and more walls to display their installations.”

Opposite page: The hallway entrance features a ceiling design copied from the San Ignacio Church.

Above: Artists have the option to reconfigure the main space depending on their exhibition.

Below: The library in Villalon’s office also acts as a meeting space for artists.

wanted it to be more than just a cube with white walls. “Anton and I went for something more [designed]. As you can see, it is very contemporary but you can also see touches of the colonial aesthetic, with some antiques here and there,” says Villalon. The colonial touch is especially evident in the ceiling by the entrance hallway.

“We reproduced the ceiling of a Jesuit cathedral in Ermita that was bombed during the Japanese period; I think it was the San Ignacio Church, if I’m not mistaken.” He also points out the antiques around the space. “The gate is made of grills from old windows. We also put up a chandelier that has been with me for 20 years.” The chandelier is placed above a table in his office, modernized

with LED lights. “In the library, you will see some old things, some old santos and other things I have collected throughout the years.”

Transitioning to a bigger space was a welcome move for The Drawing Room. Villalon says, “There wasn’t much of an adjustment, because a bigger space would offer the artists more flexibility and more walls to display their installations.” Because of the wider space, artists have more room to reconfigure the gallery to fit their exhibition, such as adding walls to divide the main area.

Aside from the main gallery space, there are two other sections for exhibitions. “Normally, we would have two shows every month so one artist would take the long hallway and another will take the bigger space.” During bigger shows, though, one artist can take up the entire gallery. Usually, small pieces are displayed in the hallway, “but we had a Dex Fernandez installation [one time] that had him paint the whole span of the left wall, so it really depends [on the show we’re staging].”

The third section of the gallery serves as the window display. “We call it the project window space. Artists can propose to exhibit in that small space, confined within that window display area where they can do whatever they want. It gets quite interesting.” • Building C Karrivin Plaza, 2316 Chino Roces Avenue Extension, Barangay Magallanes, Makati City 801-4397/801-4398

RED JUNE.indd 9

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

ATTIRED

Gentleman’s Quarters Old World luxe meets urban savant

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF AAKVN STUDIO BY KEVIN PINEDA (B&W) AND CARMEN DEL PRADO (COLORED) MAKE UP & GROOMING DIONNE TAYLOR. STYLING BY QUAYN PEDROSO. PRODUCTION ASSISTANT PAULINE RESURRECCION. MODEL PASCAL DE WOLFF

Clockwise from top: Heritage Pilot Ton-Up 45mm stainless steel and nubuck watch, Zenith, Lucerne, Glorietta 4; aviator acetate and gold-tone sunglasses, Thom Browne, Ronnie & Joe, SM Aura Premier; printed shirt, Dolce & Gabbana, net-a-porter.com; princetown horsebit shearling-lined leather backless loafers, Gucci, Greenbelt 4; LP No. 9, Penhaligon’s, Adora, Greenbelt 5 On Pascal: Shirt, Topman, Greenbelt 3; blazer, Paulo Lazaro; @paulolazaro.design; belt, Zara, Greenbelt 5; pants, Paulo Lazaro; @paulolazaro.design; split stool, AAKVN Studio, @aakvn_design

RED JUNE.indd 10

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

Clockwise from top right: Gommino printed suede driving shoes, Tod’s, Greenbelt 4; Intrecciato leather billfold wallet, Bottega Veneta, Greenbelt 4; GX 460, Lexus, Bonifacio Global City; pebble-grain leather wrap bracelet, Valextra, Univers, One Rockwell; Prince of Wales checked wool suit, Etro, mrporter.com On Pascal: Shirt, Topman, Greenbelt 3; blazer, Paulo Lazaro; @paulolazaro.design

RED JUNE.indd 11

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

12

Clockwise from top right: Jacquard wool sweater, Saint Laurent, net-a-porter.com; bulldog mid-length printed swim shorts, Orlebar Brown, Signet, Shangri-La at the Fort; cap-toe canvas sneakers, Lanvin, 8 Rockwell; arbor 26L backpack, Patagonia, zalora.com; wooden beach bat and ball set, Frescobol Carioca, mrporter.com; Spartan sport watch, Suunto, Time Depot, Power Plant Mall; Terre d’Hermès, Hermès, Rustan’s Makati On Pascal: Shirt, Topman, Greenbelt 3; jacket, Carl Jan Cruz, carljancruz.com; belt, Zara, Greenbelt 5; pants, Paulo Lazaro, @paulolazaro.design

RED JUNE.indd 12

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

Clockwise from top: Ripple HRH pen, Visconti, Rustan’s Makati; 2015 LS 460, Lexus, Bonifacio Global City; Philosykos, Diptyque, Rustan’s Makati; Air Force 1 leather sneakers, Nike, Greenbelt 3; Pilot’s spitfire chronograph watch, IWC Schaffhausen, Greenbelt 5 On Pascal: Jacket, Carl Jan Cruz, carljancruz.com; pants, Paulo Lazaro, @paulolazaro.design

RED JUNE.indd 13

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

Double Vision ART

RED JUNE.indd 14

“The Inverted Telescope,” an exhibition curated

by Angel Velasco Shaw at The Drawing Room and the Cultural Center of the Philippines, addresses what Shaw interprets to be transnationalist experiences of Filipino artists and the practices of appropriation, adaptation, and co-optation.

WORDS MARTA LOVINA PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

Could you expound on what you mean by “transnationalist experience,” and why it inspired you to curate simultaneous exhibitions and a symposium?

Angel Velasco Shaw: By transnationalist experiences in this context, I’m referring to how

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

Filipino artists who had left their homelands to either study, visit, or live in western countries were inspired and/or influenced by these cultures, art practices, and mindsets.

The exhibitions and the symposium are born out of something deeply personal. I realized that even if I’m American-born, the conversation surrounding the Filipinization of a culture that has been deeply colonized is of utmost importance to engage in. But it is not up to me to say what that process is, how one does it, why, and when.

Filipinization means many things to different people. The themes of adaptations, co-optation, and appropriation lend themselves to the Philippines because of its colonial history and how that history resonates in Philippine society today.

Talking about the impact of the West and it’s influence on Filipino artists is always a sticky subject isn’t it. Do you see this issue being resolved?

When I first started looking at Philippine art in a serious way in 1985, at first I thought a lot of the work I was seeing, except for the social realists’, was derivative of the west-that they were either appropriating, co-opting, or copying western modern and contemporary art. Over the years, I realized I’d been brainwashed by my own education and by the way the art world was looking at non-white art. I started to rethink or, rather, analyze what this means. Who is appropriating whom, who’s adapting what, who’s co-opting what and how? I think it’s too much of a generalization to say Filipinos are making “Filipino” art or Americans and Europeans are making American and European art. It’s not simply about nationalism.

Over the years, as I looked at more art and talked to more artists, I noticed a lot of “unevenness” in the practices of many artists. Because I’m in the Philippines, I’ll say Filipino artists, but I think this holds true globally-I think this is important to say. This is why the criticism of Western art critics and curators are wrong. Whether Filipinos are consciously or unconsciously doing this, I think many Filipinos problematize the debate about what makes contemporary art “Filipino” or what “Filipino” contemporary art is. It’s important to question if art made in the Philippines needs to be “Filipinized.”

RED JUNE.indd 15

How are the themes of appropriation, adaptation, and co-optation explored in the exhibition and what is their relationship to the “inverted telescope”?

First, the phrase, “inverted telescope” is coined by the late political scientist Benedict Anderson in his introduction of The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia, and The World. The way Anderson wrote about the experience of being in an “inverted telescope” has to do with his interpretation of a passage in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere. When Ibarra comes back to Manila from Europe, he rides a carriage that passes by the botanical gardens. And for a moment, there is a sense of the familiar: He feels he is back in Europe. But when he turns his head, he sees that he’s really in Manila. Similarly, artists who have gone abroad for however long and come back to the Philippines experience the country through a different lens, which can be quite discomforting and haunting.

The telescope has two lenses that I see as metaphoric for perceptions and experiences that are binary opposites (near and far), and not necessarily seen as a space for convergence that happens inside the telescope. Symbolically, it’s the space between the lenses where I feel these questions about and practices of appropriation, adaptation, and co-optation happen. This space

Above and below: “Framed: Mabini Art Project” by Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

16

reflects where the artists have been, their influences, how they translate and embrace an experience, and then create something. The artists in the exhibition are already addressing these practices. They’re utilizing and criticizing them simultaneously.

Is critical work appreciated and do you see a difference in the way this kind of work is viewed depending on the spaces they occupy?

Yes, absolutely. But first and foremost, I was concerned that The Drawing Room’s space

RED JUNE.indd 16

Above: Sketches posted on the walls of the hallway entrance Right: “Mine me not-mine me not-mine me not-mine me-mine me not-mine me not..” by Gaston Damag

would be too small to accommodate seven artists and one artist’s collective so I thought of expanding the exhibition to the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Also, being an artist, teacher, curator, and cultural organizer myself, I’d been working with these exact themes throughout my life. This light bulb came on in my head about how connected my obsession with questioning the tense relationship between public and private spaces was with “The Inverted Telescope” exhibition—in this case, the commercial gallery which is for profit and a government-run cultural institution. Does the meaning of the works change in these spaces?

Does it matter? Are the artists consciously or unconsciously creating for these two different spaces? I’m a firm believer that the process of creating a piece of artwork is more interesting and is of a different kind of importance than the

end product. The viewer sees what they want to see and doesn’t necessarily think about what the artist went through to make the piece. We all have our influences. There are so many issues an artist thinks about when they’re creating something: having the confidence just to make the work; and if they are selling their work, the questions of what being “original” means and what makes their work better than somebody else’s comes up. Who’s to say, because so much is subjective anyway?

The art marketplace, which in this case is represented by the gallery, affects the artists in a huge way because there’s always the concern of [their survival] and all this other stuff. But the market is driven and dictated by something beyond the artist’s control. So when you think of art being a commodity, there are so many contradictions that the artists themselves are feeling. Duchamp, when he decided to call himself Richard Mutt and made “The Fountain” (the urinal piece) a century ago, he was challenging art as it was practiced and known then. I don’t think he was thinking about originality and authenticity. He was changing how an object is viewed and valued.

That’s why there are so many contradictions within the concepts, practices, and criticisms of appropriation, adaptation, and co-optation. •

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

ADMIRED

Venice Art Fest:

A Tonic for Global Woes WORDS KELLY VASQUEZ WITH ELLA IDE/AFP PHOTOGRAPHY VICENZO PINTO/AFP

RED JUNE.indd 17

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

Weary of the modern-day “global disorder” of politics and conflicts? The 57th Biennale art festival promises to lift the spirits of those frazzled by everything from Brexit to global warming.

“Viva Arte Viva, which opened on May 13 in Venice, is a passionate outcry for art in a world full of conflicts and shocks,” curator Christine Macel said ahead of the opening.

Macel, chief curator of the Pompidou Center in Paris, has brought together 120 artists from 50 countries—with the emphasis on rediscovering great artists who may have been overlooked, rather than blowing the trumpets of rising stars.

“The Biennale challenge is to give as global a picture as possible of the artistic situation” across the world, she says.

Among those exhibiting are pioneering US fiber artist Sheila Hicks, West German-born American Kiki Smith, and Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, the man behind the vast sun at Britain’s Tate Modern in 2003 and the New York waterfalls in 2008.

RED JUNE.indd 18

Music and Gold France’s Loris Greaud pays homage to the city’s famed glass blowers—forced by the Venetian Senate in 1291 to settle on Murano Island to protect the industry’s secrets—by bringing a disused furnace back to life in “The Unplayed Notes Factory.”

Swiss-born Julian Charriere, perhaps best known for dying the feathers of live pigeons in bright colours and releasing them into Venice’s Saint Mark’s Square in 2015, brings visitors “Future Fossil Spaces”—towers of salt bricks extracted from deposits in Bolivia.

Some exhibits are dotted around “La Serenissima,” “the most serene” as Venice is known.

Visitors should take to the gondolas for the best view of the glinting “Golden Tour” (1990)

by US artist James Lee Byars, which stands proudly on the canal front next to the Peggy Guggenheim museum.

Alongside the contemporary art exhibition,

85 countries are putting on their own national pavilions at the Biennale.

The French one will be a recording studio with classical, baroque, electronic, and folk instruments, which will host over 100 professional musicians from different countries during the exposition, with visitors able to drop in on some lively jam sessions.

Several countries will be showing for the first time in the northeastern Italian city, from Antigua and Barbuda to Kazakhstan and Nigeria.

Previous page: Visitor with the artwork “A Stitch in Time” by Filipino artist David Medalla during the press preview of the 57th International Art Exhibition Biennale Below: “Go tell it on the Mountain” by US artist Mark Bradford

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

Green Lights, Disco Beat However, it is impossible to escape the modern world’s problems altogether, even at the Biennale.

“The Pavilion of Joys and Fears,” for example, explores “new feelings of alienation due to forced migrations or mass surveillance” in a world shaken by conflicts, wars, increasing inequality, and the rise of populism.

But the topics are approached with humor or warmth, aimed at energizing those suffering from 21st century blues.

“At a time of global disorder, art embraces life. Art is the last bastion,” Macel says.

At the heart of her show lies Eliasson’s “Green Light” installation, where refugees and visitors come together in a workshop to assemble lamps designed by the artist and share stories.

RED JUNE.indd 19

As the worst migrant crisis since World War II rocked Europe, it represents the metaphorical green light he urges his homeland and other countries to give to taking in those fleeing conflict and persecution.

In the wake of the US presidential election, American artist Charles Atlas presents the large-screen video work “The Tyranny of Consciousness,” in which drag queen Lady Bunny bemoans American politics to a disco beat.

The Golden Lion for lifetime achievement goes to the pioneering US feminist performance artist Carolee Schneemann, famed for using her body to examine the role of female sensuality and the overthrow of oppressive social conventions.

The Venice Biennale is held on oddnumbered years. This year’s event will run until November.

•

Clockwise from top left: “Folly”

by British artist Phyllida Barlow; “Counterbalance: The Stone and the Mountain” by South Korean artist Lee Wan; “Women” by Swiss artist Carol Bove; “Pars pro Toto” by Polish artist Alicja Kwade

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

French actors Marion Cotillard and Mathieu Amalric

20 ACQUIRED

Behind the Glitz and Glam of Cannes WORDS BY CATHERINE MARCIANO AND FIACHRA GIBBONS/AFP PHOTOGRAPHY ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT AND VALERY HACHE/AFP

The Cannes film festival opened on May 17 in the French Riviera resort. Here are five essential—and often surprising—facts about the glitzy Mediterranean town:

1

It Nearly Didn’t Happen Timing is everything in cinema, they say, but as Cannes was to prove, that’s not always the case. France’s great reforming education minister Jean Zay first came up with the idea of a global film festival in 1939 as a rival to the Venice festival, which was then the

RED JUNE.indd 20

plaything of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his film-loving German friend Adolf Hitler.

Biarritz on France’s Atlantic coast was first chosen to host it, but when it couldn’t raise the money, Cannes nipped in. However, war soon broke out and Mussolini’s troops marched into the town.

It wasn’t until after the war in 1946 that the festival finally got going, quickly becoming the most important in the world.

By then, Zay was dead, murdered because he was a Jew by France’s collaborationist

government. His ashes were moved to the Pantheon in Paris in 2015 as one of the leading heroes of the French Resistance.

2

Lap of Luxury The myth of the French Riviera was created at the end of the 19th century by the crowned heads of Europe who wintered there. Their legacy—and often their palatial villas—has nowadays been taken up by Russian oligarchs and wealthy Gulf potentates.

To serve their every whim, Cannes has more

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

luxury goods shops than anywhere else in France outside Paris. Chanel, Chopard, Rolex, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Dior... no less than 70 top name brands have shops squeezed into the 800 metres (2,600 feet) of its seafront Croisette.

3

Cat burglars Like bears to honey, where there is great wealth, there are always criminals eager to redirect a little of it their way.

The Croisette has witnessed some of the biggest and most daring jewelry heists in history.

A solitary robber, thought to be one of the infamous Pink Panthers, took gems worth 103 million Euros ($112 million) from the Carlton hotel in 2013 where they were being displayed at an “Extraordinary Diamonds” exhibition.

The surprisingly simple raid still holds the world record as the biggest heist of all time.

That same year at the film festival, a 1.6-million Euro necklace was stolen and gems worth only slightly less also went missing.

Then in 2015, only a few days before the festival began, 17.5 million Euros’ worth of jewelry was taken from the Cartier shop on the Croisette.

If this seems like something from the movies, it’s because it is. That

connoisseur of crime Alfred Hitchcock made part of his 1955 classic To Catch a Thief about a Riviera cat burglar in the Carlton hotel.

It was during the film shoot that Hollywood star Grace Kelly met Prince Rainier, the ruler of nearby Monaco. Their fairytale marriage later sealed Tinseltown’s links with the coast.

4

It’s British, Actually Cannes is a French town, but it was actually the British who made it what it is today.

Henry Brougham, first Baron Brougham, is the man who turned the sleepy fishing village into a fashionable resort.

An anti-slavery campaigner and Lord Chancellor, the head of the judiciary, he encouraged

wealthy British aristocrats and industrialists to build their winter homes there in the late 19th century.

He also holds the record for speaking non-stop for six hours in the House of Commons.

5

“French Hollywood” From the dawn of cinema, when the Lumiere brothers shot their first short reels by its glittering shore, the Cote d’Azur has always attracted filmmakers.

After the Lumieres’ stay in 1897, some of the greatest directors of the silent era descended on the coast to shoot exterior scenes, a trend that was to continue with the advent of the “talkies.”

The Victorine Studios in nearby Nice were once called “French Hollywood,” with Marcel Carne shooting part of Les Enfants du Paradis—often regarded as the greatest French film of all time—there in 1944.

Nowadays, however, Cannes has morphed into one of Europe’s conference capitals, hosting MIPTV, the world’s biggest television market, as well as the • film festival every year.

Above: Lily-Rose Depp Top: Bella Hadid Left: Stacy Martin, Michel Hazanavicius, Berenice Bejo, Louis Garrel, Misha Lescot, Gregory Gadebois, and Anne Wiazemsky

RED JUNE.indd 21

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

EXPLORED

Port to Starboard Go on a voyage unlike any other aboard the best vessels that can take you around the world WORDS TISHA RAMIREZ

Regent Seven Seas Explorer There are high expectations when an ocean liner claims to be “the most luxurious ship ever built,” but the Regent Seven Seas Explorer does not disappoint. Its cruises can range from an eightnight trip from Barcelona to Rome to a 22-night excursion from London to Venice; its first voyage set out last July. This vessel can accommodate 750 passengers, has 375 rooms, and has artworks by Picasso hung on the doors of the Regent Suite.

To give you an idea of how luxurious this ship is, it is an all-suite vessel, with the Regent Suite measuring 4,443 sq. ft. It’s situated atop the ship’s bow and is equipped with a private spa, a custom

RED JUNE.indd 22

Treesse minipool on the balcony, and a Savoir No. 1 bed that costs $150,000. Aside from these in-suite amenities, guests will also have a car and a driver waiting for them at every port.

When it comes to dining, the Seven Seas Explorer spares no expense. Its two lunch restaurants and six dinner restaurants offer a variety of dishes, from Korean barbecue lamb chops to miso-spiced black cod. On a typical 14-night cruise, the Explorer will go through about 2,000 pounds of lobster, which, when ordered in the Compass Room, are served on Versace place settings.

Guests can also enjoy the other services and amenities on the offer by lounging by the doublelevel pool deck, placing a few bets at the casino, going for a jog on the outdoor deck, and practicing their golf swing on the green. rssc.com

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

Seabourn Encore Launched in January of this year, the Seabourn Encore is Seabourn’s first new ship within the last five years. Based on the same platform as the three previous vessels were, the Encore has features similar to its predecessors’ but it also comes with an additional deck that adds about 26 percent more space. What new inclusions can Seabourn fans expect? A sushi eatery, a piano bar, and a deck-top sanctuary.

The vessel combines a lounge, a library, and a café in one space called the Seabourn Square. In this multi-functional area, guests can check their e-mails at the computer stations or read from the selection of books. There is also a European-style coffee bar that offers handcrafted drinks and pastries. If you are in the mood for a cold treat, there is also a homemade gelato station.

The main highlight of the cruise is Thomas Keller’s cuisine. The American chef, who holds multiple three-star ratings from the Michelin Guide, has partnered with Seabourn to feed passengers through the ship’s three restaurants. The Restaurant is the main dining space that offers open seating.

The Colonnade, meanwhile, offers a more casual dining experience with the option of indoor or outdoor seating. It features an open kitchen that can be used for buffets or table service lunches.

Lastly, The Grill is a nod to the classic American chophouse, with menu offerings like New York Strip Steak and Lobster Thermidor. seabourn.com

Silver Muse Providing amenities for 596 guests, the Silver Muse was launched in April in Monaco. Targeted at a more upscale audience, it has four two-bedroom Owner’s Suites, which measure up to 1,389 sq. ft. The suite features a veranda with floor-to-ceiling glass doors, a six-person dining room, and a dedicated butler. Even the smaller cabins are considered big for a cruise ship, measuring up to 400 sq. ft.

Eat to your heart’s desire, as the Muse is full of dining choices. Try La Dame if you are in the mood for French food, while Hot Rocks gives passengers the option to cook their own meat, fish, and vegetables on lava stones. Silver Note offers a more intimate setting, with jazz music playing in the background as tapas-style dishes are served. silversea.com

RED JUNE.indd 23

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

MS Europa 2 This German ship’s motto is “Luxury is being able to waste space,” and they live up to it by having a lot of open space amid the indulgent amenities.

With a capacity for 600 passengers, this all-suite and all-balcony liner has a little bit of everything, from cuisine to entertainment, with spa and fitness thrown in.

MS Europa 2 offers interactive activities like culinary classes, which allow guests to learn from the ship’s top chefs. Guests can also attend talks and lectures where cultural and historical facts about the regions they are about to visit are discussed. For those who enjoy the nightlife, they can explore the different bars like the Jazz club and Piano bar. Those who are traveling with family will appreciate the children’s club, where kids aboard the ship get to meet one another and participate in games and crafts. And a cruise ship would not be complete without extravagant shows; this one has comedy nights and acrobatic shows to cap off the nights at sea. hl-cruises.com

Harmony of the Seas If you are looking for a cruise ship that focuses more on activities and entertainment, add the Harmony of the Seas to your list. This ship by the Royal Caribbean has some interesting attractions, such as a 100 ft. thrill slide and a Bionic Bar where a robot bartender serves drinks.

The Ultimate Abyss is a 10-storey plunge from the pool to the sports zone, but if you want something more calming, you can stroll through the ship’s Central Park that’s lined with more than 10,000 plants, including trees and vines. There are also two rock-climbing walls, a zip line, an ice skating rink, a full-sized basketball court, and a mini golf course for guests to explore.

Considered the largest cruise ship in the world, it is three times longer than Big Ben, with 2,500 staterooms, 20 restaurants, 23 swimming pools, and a park. You can enjoy all these while on a trip through Southampton or the Mediterranean. royalcaribbean.com

RED JUNE.indd 24

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

As a Filipino artist on the world stage, where do you draw the line when it comes to cultural appropriation?

I do not have the [authority] to respond to that, but I invite spectators to look carefully at my works. My best response [would be found in them], as I’ve been working for more than 25 years on the ethnographic museum representations of my culture and other minority cultures.

EMPOWERED

Minority Report A Paris-based Filipino artist puts the spotlight on the displaced and the disenfranchised

What has been the best constructive criticism you’ve heard about your work?

It’s funny, the same French art critic wrote a very good article in the French newspaper Le Monde about my artworks at the Art Asia Now Fair in Paris last year was the same person who [related] my work [to the] Nazis.

This was during the ’80s, after I had just graduated from the Beaux-Arts in Paris; my work then was minimally conceptual. I hate when people only say, “Not bad,” because that meant there was no engagement. Silence would be better. Maybe [the best praise is] when people don’t ask questions. When people come, go, and come back again to see more.

WORDS OLIVIA SYLVIA ESTRADA PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

Gaston Damag remains unrelenting when it comes to bringing the story of his Ifugao roots to the world stage, even after working as a museum assistant for 12 years and while raising his family.

His artistic journey has been long, and the vista from the Philippines to Paris had him thinking more about the first Filipino artists who had dared present Filipino culture to the world. “It’s a beautiful experience when you’re an artist or a writer and live far from your country. I think that was exactly what our heroes experienced when they left the Philippines and tried to criticize the Spanish government [from abroad] during that time.”

Gaston credits Europe for the global perspective that allows him to see the minority culture he belongs to within a bigger story. “I don’t know if [there’s] a better angle for seeing our country, but it’s how I see things. I try to see my Ifugao culture through [the lens of a] European or American museum, and work on the question of representation.” The results of his reflection have been seen in exhibits in Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain in France, Art Basel Switzerland, and Art Basel Hong Kong.

But every journey that Gaston takes always leads him back home.

Currently, he’s part of the thematic exhibit “The Inverted Telescope” at The Drawing Room, where he worked on the idea of land ownership and the reasons why people seek greener pastures. He looked at how taking an indigenous community’s land away from them is never just a material loss: “They lose soul, they lose hope. It’s all related to poverty. They have nothing to do in the farm, they have nothing to work on. They all come to Manila trying to find a better life.”

RED JUNE.indd 25

Gaston Damag’s work “Mine me notmine me not-mine me not-mine memine me not-mine me not..” is on exhibit at The Drawing Room.

How has living in Paris influenced your approach to art?

France is a country that loves to discuss: politics, literature, sports, arts. I’ve learned to question myself every time.

Is there such a thing as creative fatigue?

No. Fatigue [comes from] the desperation I feel when I read bad news; that can affect my creativity. It’s uncomfortable, but we, the lucky ones, need to accept the reality and do our best to be as honest as possible.

In light of everything that’s been happening, do you feel pressured to show the good side of humanity in your work?

Artists are profoundly humanists; everything they see affects them. My artwork is [often] about the representation of people who are considered passé but still [live among us] today. I think what I do is already [a form of political] engagement because I question how minorities are represented [in society]. But it’s also important to realize that no story should affect my relationship with people. My work is a metaphor for respecting the other.

What’s your next project?

Preparing for a group show at the Cultural Center of the Philippines that will open this month.

•

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

POLITICS

Martial Law, Marshmallow WORDS BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE ART NIMU MUALLAM

Life in the Philippines these days seems to unfold like a Shakespearean tragedy. There are farcical moments, for sure, but on the whole, the ongoing drama that is the Philippines is a particularly heartbreaking tragedy of epic proportions.

Take the possibility that martial law may be declared all over the country. The thought of a return to the darkest days of the Marcos dictatorship ought to be frightening enough to mobilize strident protests, yet even our rubber-stamp Congress takes its sweet time not convening, despite what our Constitution mandates. And considering that few of the members of the House and the Senate are actually qualified to be lawmakers, it’s pretty rich of them to berate concerned citizens for being “armchair constitutionalists” when they themselves clearly never mastered the Constitution, much less leafed through “Constitution for Dummies.” Which makes the current national tragedy exponentially more tragic.

I remember when Martial Law was declared in 1972. We had gone on a short holiday with family friends to a resort in Laguna known for its natural springs. We children, not even in our teens and lolling about in one of the rock pools, chanted “MARSH-MAL-LOW, MARSHMAL-LOW” followed by “Proclamation 1081!”

None of us knew what Martial Law meant then; all we knew is that it sounded so much like “marshmallow,” and therefore funny.

The years that unfolded were unfortunately far from funny. People thought it prudent to speak in whispers; those who didn’t suddenly disappeared. New words entered our vocabulary, becoming commonplace. Words like checkpoint and curfew and crony. There was terror, certainly, but there was also survival, which meant accepting that the way things were had become the new normal. This was a New Society indeed.

And there was farce. As opposition to the regime grew,

RED JUNE.indd 26

first clandestinely then openly, the attempts to quell dissent by the authorities and their agents were often brutal, but just as often bumbling. I remember our phones being bugged, and the entire operation was so sloppily executed (excuse the pun) that one could hear the agents listening in, chatting among themselves even. My mother was followed around for weeks, her every move shadowed-not with subtlety, mind you, but with shouldershrugging obviousness. At one point, she turned around, faced her stalkers, and asked them what they wanted. They asked her if she was a certain woman, a well-born beauty queen who’d gone underground. While she and my mother did resemble each other in the way that “mestizas” all seem to be the same type, it was evident that the special agents had no concrete idea of whom exactly they were looking for. When they realized their mistake, they laughed it off, saying, “Pasensya nalang po.”

The Marcos regime, a Shakespeare expert once said, lent itself rather easily to comparisons to Macbeth. This time around, with the specter of Martial Law looming before us, we seem to be living in an alternate reality version of Richard III, a play that Shakespeare wrote way back in the 1590s to address a particular problem, according to Stephen Greenblatt: “How could a great country wind up being governed by a sociopath?”

Shakespeare, of course, was describing England under the House of York, ruled by the last king of the Plantagenet society.

But there has always been a timelessness to Shakespeare’s work, and he could have just as well been describing the Richard III in our midst, and we, as in 16th century England, the complicit collaborators: “Unlike ‘Macbeth’ (which introduced into the English language the word ‘assassination’), ‘Richard III’ does not depict a violent seizure of power. Instead there is the soliciting of popular votes, complete with a fraudulent display of religious piety, the slandering of opponents, and a grossly exaggerated threat to national security.”

Sound familiar? There is no comfort in the familiarity of Martial Law here.

• The mere prospect of it should send chills down our collective spines.

08/06/2017 6:50 PM

RED JUNE.indd 27

08/06/2017 6:48 PM

RED JUNE.indd 28

08/06/2017 6:48 PM