Nature moves in mysterious ways

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
March 17, 2014

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Take a hint from the clouds and their endless formations. Take a hint from the sea and its therapeutic composure. Take a hint from the driftwoods—even if they are the cause of your untimely relocation. The utmost inspiration, the one that speaks volumes, after all, comes from the most unlikely of places.

Using the very logs that washed away and toppled over their houses when a strong typhoon hit Quezon province in 2004 as their muses, the anglers of Banglos have since turned the tables around. What resulted is a community of art workers, creating and breathing life to the otherwise listless things around town.

TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE Rey Paz Contreras’ Kulot shows his passion for elaborate and intricate carvings. Resembling this work is his “Trees,” the permanent structure in Bonifacio Global City.
Image by PINGGOT ZULUETA

Thanks to the renowned Filipino sculptor Rey Paz Contreras who introduced sculpting as an art and a form of therapy, the survivors-turned-sculptors are still making a livelihood and pastime out of the destruction, ten years later. This time around, they are upping the ante. They are showcasing and selling their artworks in a fundraiser, with the survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda as recipients. The Banglos Artists Community Group, in partnership with Smart Communications, is holding an exhibit from today to March 26 at the Kirov Model Unit in Rockwell, Makati. The exhibit also showcases the sculptures created by Yolanda survivors from Capiz who underwent driftwood sculpting workshops under the supervision of Contreras and the Banglos sculptors. It is their way of giving back and paying it forward.

But how did the fishermen become soldiers of art?

“That was their first question when we first visited them: ‘How can we make art?’ I told them if you can look up in the sky and see endless formations, then you could sculpt wood. This is the importance of art,” says Contreras, who was tapped by Smart to train the Banglos residents.

And nature has seemingly connived with their noble intention. Kabayo, one of the most expensive and elaborate artworks at the exhibit, for instance, took its inspiration from the natural shape of the wood. “Kahoy ang nag-utos sa akin, ‘di ako ang nag-utos sa kahoy,” says Roland Bradecina, explaining that the chunk of narra wood resemble a horse head to begin with. The wood has spoken to him; the idea of a full-sized horse head then came to life.

Nature moves in mysterious ways, after all. Mother Nature pulls together the artworks of different sizes, shapes, and structures. “The woods have a natural structure. They have suggestive forms,” Contreras explains. The wood type—narra, kamagong, bamboo, madre cacao, catmon—offers hundreds of ideas, from mating of partners, to women on grassfields, from birds and trees, to even schools of fish.

The exhibit is a showcase and celebration of life. “The Banglos sculptors’ presence also serves as an inspiring reminder to Yolanda survivors that they, too, can overcome the tragedy caused by the Super Typhoon,” Smart community partnership department head Darwin Flores ends.