We’ve witnessed Iloilo City go through rapid transformation – expansion, development and urbanization. But beyond its burgeoning spaces, the metropolis is electric and pulsating with new talents and artistry. Vacant walls have been turned into canvasses for a young generation of passionate homegrown artists. With murals and mammoth art installations sprouting all around the city, Iloilo is setting the groundwork to become a new art haven in the country. Panay News picked all the vibrant art scenes well worth your time to visit. Take a look!
Kristoffer George Brasileño’s larger-than-life illustration of Ilonggo national hero Graciano Lopez Jaena, literary icon and founder of La Solidaridad, is located in a two-storey pumping station on Mulle Loney Street.
Ronn Bulahan’s whimsical mural is a total eye-candy in the middle of Atria Park Business Center’s urban jungle. The Fine Arts graduate infuses pop art surrealism with local themes and characters from the Visayan folklore. His vibrant and unique illustrations are heavily inspired by the rich local culture, especially the Panay epics “Sugidanon.” “As an artist, it is my job to preserve our very own culture,” Bulahan said.
In Barangay Sto. Rosario-Duran, a 3D wall painted by Ron Matthews Espinosa, Marc Miguel and Kyle Francis Dile depicting kids playfully swimming during summer is the newest addition to the city’s art walls.
Espinosa, a licensed interior designer, called their work “Binalaybay sang Baybay” (Stories from the Sea).
He drew much of his inspiration from his community.
“I grew up there and I saw how we took for granted what we should be doing to our environment as a community. I didn’t realize we are connected to the water, we are connected to all the elements of this world. Our memory belongs to that place,” he said.
Espinosa added: “Kids swimming, diving and floating in clear waters with the elements of fauna are representations of our future. We owe it to our children to give them clear waters, a memory they could share to the next generation.”/PN
The Red Table artist group led by Jason Delgado, contributed the “smile train” mural, a light-hearted homage to the Panay Railways train that used to operate in the early 1900s.
This Binukot Mural is an artwork of Rosita Caballero, a “kept maiden” of the Panay Bukidnon indigenous people. She died in July 2017 at the age of 73. Binukot maidens were special lasses hidden from public view. They were not allowed to be seen by any man until a certain age. With this upbringing, a binukot is the primary source and keeper of the community’s history and oral epics “Suguidanon.”
