Words and Images In Situ, Performance as Exhibition
Editing Gabbie de la Cruz
“Conceived as a collection of performance works that can be recontextualized for a specific locale, In Situ, Performance as Exhibition is about bringing collective bodies to be placed or situated within the backdrop of a mountain, beachside, and the urban jungle,” opens international curator Vanini Belarmino, curator of In Situ, Performance as Exhibition and managing director of Belarmino &Partners.
Happening from October 15 to 26 in Metro Manila, Los Baños, and La Union, In Situ, Performance as Exhibition is part of an ongoing series that builds on the success of previous site-specific works initiated by Belarmino in Southeast Asia. Following preliminary three-year research and artist meetings conducted in Denmark between 2021-2024, this edition follows the recent Singapore iteration in April, which featured a different set of performances by Danish and Singaporean artists.
The exhibition will bring the power of performance to a transformative exhibition format. Using the body as the primary medium to present art in the public space, the initiative facilitates cross-disciplinary encounters and focuses on the shared presence of artists and audiences.
Performances will primarily be situated in outdoor locations such as Mount Makiling in Los Baños, the shores of La Union, the bustling streets and parks along Roxas Boulevard and CCP Complex, the walled city of Intramuros, the pavement and courtyards of the iconic brutalist and art deco buildings that of Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Manila Metropolitan Theater.
“The idea of installing performance in the mountains, seaside, and the city has been growing in my mind in the past year. I suspect that this comes from a combination of experiences of being a fixture on the beach, my Baguio and Berlin days of daily musings on public interventions, and my love for performance,” Belarmino told Kanto. “The iconic landmarks are manifestations of these imaginings and outcomes of how others have read my vision.”
The curator refers to the collaborations between Danish and Filipino artists as “artistic blind dates,” as they will be working together for the first time. Eight works by Danish visual and performance artists Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen, Molly Haslund, Sophie Dupont, and Filip Vest, alongside choreographer, Kai Merke will be featured in the exhibition.
Collaborators include renowned Filipino choreographers and performers Christine Crame, Ea Torrado, and the Daloy Dance Company, along with emerging multidisciplinary artists Sasa Cabalquinto, Jeremy Mayores, and Kyle Confesor.
Audiences are invited to actively participate in the evolving conversations between the artists, spaces, and local communities, offering fresh perspectives on how art can shape, and be shaped by, the places in which it exists. •
In Situ, Performance as Exhibition, The Philippine Edition is organized by Belarmino&Partners in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and is supported by the New Carlsberg Foundation and the Danish Arts Foundation.
