KRISTOFFER ARDEĂ‘A
BEKIMON project almost 400 drawings / mixed media / collage size: approx. 80x140 cms. (cartulina size) date produced: 2014-2015 Each piece is inscribed with the technical description and the name of the author of the work
WHAT IS BEKIMON PROJECT? In this project I asked mainly college students to visual interpret gayspeak expressions into posters on cartulina paper. Poster making is a typical art activity in the Philippine educational system. In this manner, the familiarity of the format would lend itself useful for the authors of these drawings to express themselves. WHEN AND HOW DID THE PROJECT START? Early 2014, when I arrived in the Philippines, specifically Dumaguete I was surprised to notice that young people were using expressions in the Cebuano language that I was never familiar with when I was a kid growing up speaking the language. Finally two young artists Arthel and Jed told me that it was part of a growing trend in the vernacular and English language that started with gay people inventing new expressions and words. There is even a serious research study done about it: (refer to image below)