Contextualizing the Cebu Art Book Fair in the Era of Globalization
An Apparent Scarcity
A little
over a month after Supertyphoon Odette cleaved through the Visayas and parts of
Mindanao, Cebu-born poet Lawrence Ypil posted on his Facebook timeline a link
to an online literary folio that received a respectable amount of attention. Titled
Odette in the Dark, the folio was envisioned as a “space” where Cebuanos
could share their experiences of that night of the storm, and the long days,
weeks, and months that followed. In his January 21 post, Ypil (2022) wrote, “We
wanted to know how people fared in the storm’s aftermath. What they did in the
dark in the light of candles. How many hours it took to get fuel, how many days
it took before they drank iced water.”
Odette
in the Dark was an admirable endeavor because its
namesake storm was a collective experience that only someone from Cebu, along
with other affected provinces, could give as detailed and impactful a narrative
as possible—not unlike how only someone in Tacloban at the time Yolanda made
landfall in 2013 could talk about the devastation there. Odette, in other
words, was an event no Hollywood film, no K-drama, no Japanese anime (the modes
of storytelling Cebuanos tend to enjoy) could ever hope to recapture. Odette
in the Dark was, in essence, a storytelling platform for Cebuanos, by
Cebuanos.
Although
Cebu City, and the province by extension, prides itself on being the most
urbanized area of the Philippines outside of Metro Manila, opportunities and
spaces for narrating, publishing, and distributing distinctly Cebuano
narratives are noticeably trim compared to what the nation’s capital has to
offer. Given the overall cultural diversity of our country, and the fact that
other provinces have successfully branded themselves as places where publishing
and reading are alive (such as Iloilo and Davao, which have hosted nationally
oriented book fairs), this is a surprisingly unfortunate state of affairs.
Such a
scarcity in the Cebuano landscape is far from attributable to a lack of artistic
talent. As recently as 2019, Cebu City was recognized by UNESCO as a creative
city (one of only three Philippine cities to hold such a distinction) under its
design category, owing to its reputation as a “hub of trade, culture and
innovation.” Over the past few decades, Cebu has cultivated a reputation as a
go-to place for outsourced needs relating to multimedia and information
technology. Additionally, collaborations between local creatives and
entrepreneurs, through initiatives like Cebu Design Week and Cebu Arts Week,
provide avenues for “cross-sectoral collaborations and multi-disciplinary
approaches to achieving unique and effective results” (UNESCO, 2019).
Perhaps
no other initiative, though, has devoted itself more to the idea of “telling
stories” than the Cebu Art Book Fair (CABF). After first being held at the
Crossroads Mall in Banilad, Cebu City, in July 2022 (with over 2,500 fairgoers
in attendance), CABF enjoyed a second run in September of 2023, this time at
the Jose Joya Gallery at the University of the Philippines-Cebu (Bautista,
2023). The involvement of local talent in the planning, organizing, and
promotion of the event spoke of just how genuinely community-driven it is
compared to most other fairs geared toward the creative sector.
Figure 1. Zines, postcards, and artworks on display at CABF 2022 (photo by Denise Corina Sanchez) |
The Art
Book Fair: Historical and Cultural Antecedents
A quick
dive into the history of the “art book” form will ultimately yield a singular
name: Printed Matter. First established in 1976 by artists based in Tribeca, New
York, the nonprofit organization dedicated itself to the “dissemination,
understanding, and appreciation of artists’ books and publications” (Printed
Matter, n.d.). One notable way it did and continues to do this is through the
New York Art Book Fair, the world’s leading artists’ book fair that draws more
than 35,000 attendees each year. Why exactly would artists (by this we mean of
the visual sort) prefer publishing their work in book form rather than, say,
displaying at a gallery where more lucrative offers can be made? Apart from the
wider reach that printing affords, the decades of the latter half of the
twentieth century witnessed the art world become more “commodified”—in other
words, more expensive and more difficult for artists to enter (as well as
innovate) without taking into account market concerns. If one wanted to make it
into the art scene—or any other creative industry—one had to adhere to certain
norms and expectations in relation to the type of art one could create, the
audiences it would appeal to, and the state or corporate institutions that
could possibly support it. It didn’t help that this period also saw the prevalence
of economic and political thought that espoused austerity, the privatization of
public services, and the loosening of trade restrictions—all of which further enabled
the encroachment of multinational entities into local cultural spaces.
Because
of this history, contemporary art is largely characterized by a division of the
“establishment” (broadly speaking, works that are produced by institutions and
individuals with much influence and cultural capital) and “anti-establishment”
(works that are excluded from or deliberately avoid what society considers
“mainstream” or “commercial” at a given time). A book fair such as the annual
one at Frankfurt, for example, would be considered by many creatives as an
“establishment” event because it involves the participation of big publishing
names that observe the formalities associated with their industry (including
sales and marketing rights, which may not necessarily have the writer’s best
interests in mind). An art book fair, on the other hand, will likely eschew
with such conventions, while simultaneously allowing the space for artists of
different backgrounds and media to collaborate, commingle, and ultimately
“[find] alternative routes to creating and distributing art on their own terms”
(Bouillis qtd. in Represent, 2019).
In the
Philippines, one notable event that expressly sets itself apart from the
mainstream is Better Living through Xeroxography (BLTX). Founded on the
“philosophy of potluck—specifically, its manifestations as the traditional
Filipino economic practice of ambagan” (Titi, 2015), BLTX touts itself as a
more sustainable and inclusive alternative to the country’s established
publishing industry, which, those outside the mainstream allege, permits only a
select few voices, thereby heavily regulating which ideas can proliferate
societal discourse (hence the term “gatekeeping” being thrown around a lot in
anti-establishment circles). The model seems to be working: BLTX is still
growing strong more than a decade since it was first proposed in a manifesto
printed in a 2009 issue of the Philippine Free Press.
Figure 2. The crowd at CABF 2022, held at the Crossroads Mall in Banilad, Cebu City (photo courtesy of Erik Tuban) |
Specifics
of the Cebu Art Book Fair
While it
may not be as explicit as BLTX in its resistance of the mainstream and
commercial, CABF still draws heavily from the community-driven, DIY tradition
of providing lesser-known artists the platform to have their work reach a wider
audience, and shedding light on stories and perspectives that would have
otherwise been drowned out by more dominant, more marketable modes of
storytelling.
So how
exactly does CABF do this?
As
someone who has always liked “being part of things that allow people to tell
stories,” co-founder Mark Deutsch (who was, incidentally, also involved in the
creation of Odette in the Dark) looks at CABF as an initiative with two
important aspects. The first “layer” is its grassroots quality. By encouraging
practically anyone with an interest in storytelling to create some kind of
narrative medium, CABF removes many of the obstacles that are part and parcel
of “more formal” modes of publishing. Deutsch, in a personal communication
(September 7, 2023), cited one exhibited zine that detailed a person’s
experience living with a stutter. The material was deeply personal—but it
likely would have had to deal with multiple hurdles before seeing print under a
more commercially concerned publishing house.
The
second aspect is the frequently overlooked notion of a book serving as some
sort of “artifact”—that is, according to Merriam-Webster, “an object
remaining from a particular period” (n.d.). One highlight of the 2023 CABF, for
instance, was the zine All Flew Over: A Tribute Zine to Kukuk’s, which
derives its name from the storied hangout in Lahug that recently shuttered (and
is a riff on the 1962 Ken Kesey novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest).
The zine collected pictures and write-ups by artists paying homage to “the last
standing bastion of rock n roll on this side of Gorordo” (Cebu Art Book Fair,
2023). All Flew Over thus preserves for posterity memories of a place
that no one can physically return to, of a time no one can relive. Future
generations, as well as individuals who have never been there, however, can
still get a sense of what the location was like thanks to this zine.
Marc
Abuan, book designer and Deutsch’s CABF co-founder, states that the fair format
not only allows for the exhibition of more texts about life in Cebu, but it
also encourages dialogue between readers and creators, which could potentially
lead to collaborations that result in collectively produced narratives—consequently
subverting prevailing assumptions about the individual writer being the sole author
of a work. The zine titled Circling Fuente, for example, which was produced
by a group of designers, “[centers] on the terrain and urban texture of Fuente
Osmeña circle.” As years pass, Circling Fuente will not only go on to
become a snapshot of the “fleeting moment in time that was 2023,” but it will
also serve as a testament of what creative minds can come up with when working
together (Abuan, personal communication, September 28, 2023).
This
empowering of creatives and concern for the community is attested to by both event
collaborators and exhibitors. Ivy Marie Apa, a faculty member of UP Cebu, where
the 2023 CABF was held, has described the fair as an opportunity to
“[democratize] the local artworld by allowing emerging talents to break free
from traditional gallery structures and exhibit their work directly to the
public.” In this way, CABF gives artists a greater sense of agency over their
work at the individual level, while communally allowing for a more “inclusive
and accessible [Cebu] art scene” (personal communication, September 12, 2023). PAWN
Press founder, Erik Tuban, one of the exhibitors at both iterations of the
fair, lauds CABF’s “honest system” in which artists “exchange ideas, trade
banter with, and soak into the overall air of camaraderie” (personal
communication, January 19, 2024). He especially appreciates how CABF asks only
for a small percentage of sales, unlike most other fairs that charge exorbitant
table fees for exhibitors. CABF is clearly proof that when commercial interests
are set aside for the well-being of the community, reception among all parties
concerned will prove positive.
Figure 3. Exhibitors displaying their works at CABF 2023, held at the Jose Joya Gallery in UP-Cebu (photo courtesy of Erik Tuban) |
Hopes and Challenges
CABF may not be as expressly countercultural as BLTX or all the other art book fairs from which it draws its lineage—but from an outsider’s viewpoint, one can see that it makes an effort to raise questions about what it means “to make art and be an artist” in the age of neoliberalism (Sherlock, 2013). The community-run aspect is praiseworthy enough—and quite the feat, considering how many cultural events in Cebu typically rely on the sponsorship of big-name donors or the goodwill of state-backed institutions. Hopefully, this ethos prevails for as long as CABF exists.
Its
focus on storytelling, however, is, in this writer’s opinion, of paramount
importance.
Earlier
in this piece, I mentioned how Cebuanos (yours truly included) exhibit a
preference for stories from other cultures and languages—narratives that are
more readily accessible because the market has deemed them worthy of
distribution on account of their popularity (which, under a corporatized scheme,
translates into profitability). In the twenty-first century, there are few, if
any, Cebuano narratives outside of urban legends and social media content that
cut across classes and successfully penetrate the public consciousness. This, I
would argue, has resulted in a lack of rootedness and a disorientation among
Cebuanos in this “era of corporate-driven globalization” (Bello, 2009). It has thus
become easy for many of us to buy into the rhetoric and perspectives offered by
other cultures—or worse, feel an envy due to what we perceive are deficiencies
on our end.
CABF
plays a crucial role in disseminating stories that are extremely
relatable—culturally, geographically, temporally, and even personally—and will
thus help us make better sense of these turbulent times. Cebuanos who have
always wanted to tell distinctly Cebuano stories can rest easy knowing there is
an avenue for them to impart what they know onto the society they proudly
consider themselves a part of. As to whether or not there will be an audience
is ultimately up to us—that wider segment of Cebuanos that enjoys stories in
whatever form and derives insights from them. It is my sincerest hope that this
curiosity for stories told from our own milieu only grows and results in
greater turnouts at future editions of CABF.
References
Bautista, G. (2023, September 5). Everything
you need to know about the Cebu Art Book Fair 2023. SPOT.PH. https://www.spot.ph/arts-culture/the-latest-arts-culture/106207/cebu-art-book-fair-2023-date-location-a3335-20230905-lfrm
Bello, W. (2009). Democratic
alternatives to corporate globalization. Presentation at National Farmers Union
Convention.
Cebu Art Book Fair (2023, August 30).
Announcing this year’s CABF Zine Grantees - the CABF Micro Grant awards 3
creators to fund the production of their zine idea. [Status update]. Facebook. https://bitly.ws/3aYeq
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Artifact. In Merriam-Webster.com
dictionary. Retrieved January 20, 2024, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/artifact
Mission History. Printed Matter. (n.d.). https://www.printedmatter.org/about/mission-history
Offprint London 2019. Represent. (2019, May 14). https://www.represent.uk.com/blog/offprint-london-2019/
Sherlock, Diana (Spring 2013).
“Institutions by Artists: Resistance Or Retreat?” International Contemporary
Art: 16–20. Via ProQuest.
Titi, S. (2015, January 25). Better
Living Through xeroxography - a brief towards a more sustainable publishing industry. Medium. https://bitly.ws/3aYaM
UNESCO. (2019). Cebu City.
Creative Cities Network. https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/cebu-city
Ypil, Lawrence (2022, January 21). In
the days following supertyphoon Odette, Mark Joseph Deutsch, Johanna Velasco
Deutsch and I thought it would be good to build a space where Cebuanos could
begin to share their stories about the storm. [Status update]. Facebook. https://bitly.ws/3aY6B
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