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Art takes many forms—from the intricate carvings of sculptures to the composed brushstrokes of paintings. However, one form that often goes unappreciated in the Philippines is performance art.
While performance art is usually associated with theater plays and orchestral sets on stage, “In Situ, Performance as Exhibition: The Philippine Edition” brought performance arts to the public, on the streets and rural spaces, from Oct. 15 to 26, 2024.
Vanini Belarmino, Filipina curator and founder of Belarmino & Partners, is the brains behind the ongoing art initiative series that first experienced success in the first edition in Singapore last April.
She also collaborated with the Cultural Center of the Philippines to localize it to the country.
“I asked CCP’s art director Dennis Marasigan if he wanted to collaborate with me on this. It’s unbelievable because I just told him mountain, seaside, and urban jungle, and he just read my ideas.”
This conversation led to choosing Mount Makiling in Los Baños, the sea shores of La Union, the streets of Roxas Boulevard, Intramuros’ walled landscape, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the main stage, the Manila Metropolitan Theater, for the week-long exhibition.
The series featured eight works from Danish artists Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen, Molly Haslund, and Sophie Dupont alongside choreographers Filip Vest and Kai Merke.
In my personal experience, I was able to catch Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen’s performance of her original concept “Mobile Mirrors.” Born in Manila, the Filipino-Danish artist explores the themes of identity, culture, religion, gender, and social relations in her work. Her medium of choice includes a blend of music, costumes, and stringent scenography.
As the sun set last Oct. 16, 2024, six figures from the Daloy Dance Company stood out like mosaic sculptures in Raja Sulayman Park, a landmark near the Malate church, each donning bodysuits of fragmented and scattered mirror shards.
Moving through public spaces, the crowds slowly gathered around the mysterious statue-like sculptures, filling the park with gasps of awe as the figures began to move.
Rasmussen shares, “I was trying to think of how you can make a sculpture that can fit in a living being—like a suit that is a living sculpture in a public space.
