Strange Maps: an exhibit by Lala Gallardo and Luis Katigbak

It all started when I attended the Graphika Manila conference last December with my friend, visual artist Lala Gallardo. (Lala's an immensely talented young artist who's had a bunch of solo and group exhibits, at places like the CCP, Big Sky Mind, Store for All Seasons, and Chunky Far Flung Gallery in Cubao.) When we were taking a short break from the lectures, she suggested that we work on an exhibit that would combine her images with my words.

I ended up writing ten very short pieces of prose, which Lala is incorporating into ten works of mixed-media art. Some themes emerged in the process: distances and how we deal with them, the relationships between people and places, the faint yet constant yearning for elsewhere. “Strange Maps” seemed an appropriate title.


Photo by Joelle Jacinto. Thanks Joelle!

We'd like to invite you all to the opening at the second floor gallery of SaGuijo next Tuesday, February 27, 7 PM! By a wonderful coincidence, a Play4Serve production is scheduled for that same night, and the lineup is killer: Sandwich, Imago, Daydream Cycle, Teeth, Pedicab, Vin Dancel's new band Peryodiko, and this new all-girl supergroup called Duster which I'm very excited about, which counts among its members Katwo of Narda, Kris of Cambio, and Myrene of Sandwich/Imago! Hoo boy. Also, according to Cris Ramos, The Bitter Pill will be playing too, for the first time in far too long a time.

So, go to the exhibit opening at 7 PM, then head on down for the gig afterwards. :) Sounds like a great night out to me. Hope to see you there!