Artist Jet Pascua and Eric Zamuco jointly mount Karga, a homecoming exhibit in which they individually tackle experiences away from home through their artworks. Featuring performance videos and installations, Karga opens at West Gallery, West Avenue Quezon City on June 22 and runs until July 21, 2007.
Pascua and Zamuco agreed on the title “Karga” to explore the idea of displacement. “We have both been away from the Philippines for sometime now and we thought that the title would fit our homecoming exhibitions,” shares Zamuco Pascua says he uses the term to refer to weight on one’s shoulder, and his works reflect that perspective,” being a migrant artist now based in Norway.”
Pascua’s performance videos deal with different subjects that I, as a Filipino abroad, deal with “ Karga” will be a homecoming of sorts for both artist, says Pascua “We are not that updated on what goes on in Manila, so we are not also sure about how our works will be received. But in the end, you can only do you best, and also just hope for the best.”
For Zamuco, “Karga” also means to recharge one of the main reasons why he and Pascua have decided to come home. He decided not to bring home any work from the U.S. where he is now based, starting anew from what he will find in Manila when he returns, admitting that location itself is a factor in his art making. I have been living in Missouri for two years now and have been in the Graduate Sculpture Program of the University of Missouri for a year. My current research has been dealing with the idea of displacement, and how beliefs filter these unfamiliar experiences in a new living environment. By using found military stretchers and glass tubes as materials Zamuco intends to make something that would signify his need to recharge after being dislocated from home.
Pascua adds that he will continue tackling migrant experiences in his upcoming shows, including the next one he will be mounting in Norway, his current home. A recipient an arts residency grant from the Vermont Studio Center in 2006, Pascua Studied at the University of the Philippines Department of Studio Arts and at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo, Norway.
Zamuco, currently finishing his masters in fine arts at the University of Missouri USA, was a finalist at the 2007 Foundry Art Centre Annual Juried Photography Exhibition in St. Charles, Missouri and a recipient of CCP Thirteen Artist Award in 2003.
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