The Philippine Online Chronicles

Controversy continues to surround the Kulo exhibit, with Catholic lay groups filing criminal charges against officials of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) for allowing the exhibit which mixes religious imagery with pop culture and sexual icons.

“They broke the law, which protects against attacks on the Church and races,” said Eric Manalang, president of Prolife Philippines.

On the other hand, artists' groups have been attempting to get the exhibit, which was closed down for “security reasons” back up and running.

“We call on the CCP to reopen the exhibition in the spirit of free flow of ideas and cultural expression, in the spirit of the long tradition of progressive artists who have fought for freedom of expression and against censorship,” said Iggy Rodriguez of Palayain ang Sining.

Former CCP Visual Arts Director Karen Ocampo Flores has suggested that the fiery debate surrounding Kulo has its roots in the controversy surrounding the Reproductive Health Bill, another issue which sees certain factions of the Catholic Church pitted against dissenting opinions.

In a commentary about the Dakdakan: Kulo forum held on August 5 in the CCP, wherein some members of church groups began protesting the exhibit aggressively, Flores said that the debate of Kulo was less about art and more about politics.

“It was for them a takeover,” she said. “It's not a debate about art, it's not a debate about religion: it's about imposing their power on the CCP...CCP is fair game for their strategies to frame the RH stance within this great drama about art attacking religion.”

“We have seen riskier art with religious images at the CCP and other galleries; people complained, but never at a scale such as this. Why? Because back then only the artist gains from the attention,” she said.

“Now they have a big stake once they establish that the CCP as a government institution made a mistake in the same way that RH should be a big mistake.”

Throughout the debates however, artists and artist groups have stood firm in saying the closing of the exhibit impugnes an individual's right to self-expression.

“Freedom of expression”

In an official statement, Kulo curator and participant J. Pacena II said, “It is upsetting that the CCP Board of Directors succumbed to the pressure by permanently closing the exhibit,” adding that it “sets a bad precedent.”

“The focus should be on the dialogue of art and nothing more,” he added. “This is in fact a significant part of the show's context, which is to re-evaluate past and present dialogues and how these ideas are revealed through the different artworks by 31 participating artists.”

“We must protect the rights of all participants in this exhibition,” he said. “We should not censor the artwork. We should continue this dialogue and exchange of thoughts for a possible resolution.”

Members of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) also expressed support for Cruz, with CAP chairperson and National Artist for Literature Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera saying, “We support the CCP, especially its Visual Arts unit...for upholding freedom of expression as guaranteed by the 1987 Constitution.”

A statement from the group added that “Bishops and lay leaders who are pressuring the CCP to close the show are within their right to speak against Kulo, and they are free to admonish the Catholic faithful regarding what they find objectionable in Mideo's artwork...[But] we believe however that this demand to suppress the show smacks of the religious fascism of the friars of Rizal's time and certainly unacceptable in the 21^st century.”

CAP Secretary-General Prof. Neil Doloricon added that criticism of art works is “part of the artistic process and contributes to the growth of the artist,” but cautioned critics not to resort to intimidation and defamation to threaten an artist's freedom of expression.

The UGATLahi Artists Collective added that, “The role of the artist is to expose the current condition of society. Art becomes a powerful tool when it discusses the prevailing social conditions...In this light, UGATLahi Artists Collective strongly denounces any form of harassment against artists and artists' freedom of expression.”

“Freedom from repression”

Artists' ARREST also said that the demand of certain factions of the Catholic church for the resignation of CCP officials, the vandalism of the artwork and the decision to shut the exhibit down were “disturbing.”

“That everybody is allowed to his or her opinion is a given in this situation,” their statement said. “In the same respect that Cruz exercised his freedom of expression in his artwork which many find sickening and offending, everybody is welcome to express their opposition and even disgust to Cruz's work up to the extend that it is constitutional and non-violent.”

“The half-successful attempt of an unidentified man and woman to destroy the artwork of Cruz by defacing it and setting it on fire, albeit failed...is beyond acceptable.”

KARATULA, a group of progressive young artists, said, “Kung ang gawa ni Cruz ay offensive o progressive man, maganda o pangit para sa madla, ang dapat ay tumindig para sa malayang pagtutunggali ng iba't ibang mga ideya at palitang kuro upang mangibabaw ang mga wastong pananaw hinggil sa sining, kultura at maging sa lipunan.”

“Isang matingkad na halimbawa ang mga pangyayari sa pagpapatuloy ng kultura ng represyon at pasismo sa ating bansa,” they added.

According to Palayain ang Sining, a broad formation of artists, critics, academics and cultural workers, also emphasized that the issue unearthed by the Kulo karfuffle is “that of censorship and repression.”

“The bishops and religious lay leaders pushing for the closure of the exhibit are demanding not only that we persecute one person's creative expression, but that we hinder any other creative expressions whose conept and presented ideologies they do not agree with.”

According to Sining Bugkos, a metro Manila-based alliance of cultural groups, “the filing [of] charges against artists is a form of harassment.”

“Today's filing of charges against artists marks the worst attack under a grand design of suppression ever made by these supposed to be faith-based groups, following their attempts to give strong pressure to the CCP and the national leadership- to shut down the Kulo exhibit,” said Sining Bugkos chairperson Max Santiago.

“On the other hand, we urge the CCP to reopen the exhibit to the public in order for people to decide intelligently on what was being discussed in Kulo and not just to base their perception and stand on this issue from what was only available in the media.”

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