PURITA KALAW-LEDESMA PRIZES IN ART CRITICISM 2024

The 11th year of the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prizes in Art Criticism welcomes entries on the theme of ‘Fluctuation.’

In the 1974 book The Struggle for Philippine Art, Purita Kalaw-Ledesma and Amadis Ma. Guerrero described the Philippine art scene of the time as “a fluctuating, flexible and wide-open field” where diverse trends were concurrently explored by the artists. Kalaw-Ledesma emphasized that an artist should “never [be] in a fixed state of mind” and should always experiment with new ideas and approaches as life continues to shift beyond one’s control and expectations.

In this state of fluctuation, Kalaw-Ledesma affirmed the essential role of criticism, for it points out the significance of the artist’s work and efforts in experimentation to both the viewer and the artist. She stated that, without criticism, the art movement in the Philippines would not develop.

Prompted by Kalaw-Ledesma’s perception of fluctuation as a realm of possibility, we seek entries anchored as criticism about artists, art works, exhibitions, projects, practices, or events that take a cue from irregular and unexpectable changes. Fluctuation alludes to the sense of unpredictability prevalent today, as intensified by war, inflation, environmental crises, technological developments, and divisive public opinions. Concentrating on fluctuation may create opportunities to reconsider the importance of art and, therefore, the role of criticism in the face of uncertainty.

The Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prizes in Art Criticism will have English and Filipino categories. A panel of jurors will shortlist a maximum of six (6) writers from each category. From these lists, winners will be selected by the editors of the partner publications. Winners will be announced during the awarding ceremony scheduled in November 2024.

Two winners will be selected from the English category. The winner of the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prize for The Philippine Star will be awarded a regular column under ‘Platforms’ in the Arts and Culture section of the paper, to be published once a month with a total of 12 articles for a year. The winner of the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prize for ArtAsiaPacific will be contributing to the bi-monthly publication, with a total of six (6) articles for a year.

One winner selected from the Filipino category will be awarded the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prize for Katipunan Journal and will be contributing to the bi-annual research publication, with a total of two (2) articles for a year.

In addition to the opportunity to have their written works published, one of the winners will be selected and offered a month-long writer’s residency with Orange Project in Bacolod City, one of our local residency partners. The residency will give the winning writer an opportunity to immerse and interact with the local art community.

The Ateneo Art Awards-Purita Kalaw-Ledesma (PKL) Prizes for Art Criticism was launched in 2014 by Ateneo Art Gallery and Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation, Inc. (KLFI). It was named in honor of Purita Kalaw-Ledesma, art patron and founder of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP). Kalaw-Ledesma believed in art criticism’s “vital role in the development of culture,” citing its capacity to “guide both artists towards new directions and public taste towards the best in past and current artistic output.”

QUALIFICATIONS OF PARTICIPANTS

  1. Employees, whether full-time or contractual, of the Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University, or Kalaw Ledesma-Foundation, Inc., are not allowed to participate.
  2. Must be based in the Philippines.
  3. To avoid conflicts of interest, participants must not have a regular column and must not hold an editorial post in any broadsheet or local/international magazine. Regular columnists are not allowed to join but contributors, defined as any person whose written work is published with a byline but not identified as a columnist, may join.
  4. Bloggers defined as writers of online journals, websites, or whose written work is published in electronic social media may join.
  5. Past winners of the PKL Prize are not eligible to participate.
  6. Writers who have been shortlisted in the past for the PKL Prize may still submit an entry.

MECHANICS FOR ENTRIES

  1. Entries should be essays with no more than 1,000 words.
  2. Entries must reflect the theme of the Program. This year’s theme is Fluctuation, inviting entries anchored as criticism about artists, art works, exhibitions, projects, practices, or events that take a cue from irregular and unexpectable changes. Fluctuation alludes to the sense of unpredictability prevalent today, as intensified by war, inflation, environmental crises, technological developments, and divisive public opinions.
  3. The entry must be written on A4-sized paper. The font should be Arial, Times New Roman, or Book Antiqua, font size 12.
  4. Entries must be submitted digitally as both Word and PDF file attachments with no indication of the identity of the writer on the documents.
  5. Only one original entry is allowed per participant.
    1. The essay should not have been published before on any printed or online platform.
    2. Any entry that has been submitted for consideration in any other writing contest before 30 November 2024 will be disqualified.
  6. Entries must be collated in an accessible Google Drive and submitted at go.ateneo.net/PKL2024Entry with the following file formats with the writer’s last name and title of the entry (ex. Dela Cruz - Essay Title) as filename:
    1. Entry in Word document format (ex. Dela Cruz - Essay Title.docx)
    2. Entry in PDF format (ex. Dela Cruz - Essay Title.pdf)
  7. The deadline for submission of entries will be on 30 June 2024 (Sunday), 11:59 PM.
  8. Copyright of entries of the shortlisted writers (including the winners) shall be held by the writer jointly with AAG and KLFI. All shortlisted and winning essays will be published online in Vital Points after the awarding.

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Experimental Film (O Ang Paghahanap ng Isang Ligtas na Lugar)

Hindi ko alam kung anong pumasok sa isip ng ate kong nasa Jeddah at biglang ipina-renovate ang bahay namin sa gitna ng pandemya. Kailangan tuloy naming pansamantalang makitira ni Mama at ng pamangkin ko sa bahay ng tita ko (na tinatawag kong Mommy). Halos isang buwan din kaming nanatili roon. Wala akong naging problema dahil malapít ako sa mga pinsan kong anak ni Mommy kahit medyo malayo ang agwat ng edad ko sa kanila. Epekto rin siguro ito ng pagtawag ko ng ‘Mommy’ sa kanilang nanay, kaya pakiramdam nila, kapatid din nila ako. At isa pa, laging sinasabi ni Mommy na ako raw ang panganay niya dahil siya ang laging nag-aalaga sa akin noong bata ako.

Isang hapon, nang wala kaming magawa ng mga pinsan ko dahil walang kuryente (normal na mawalan ng kuryente sa Mabitac, Laguna), naisipan naming pumunta sa likod ng bahay nila. Maraming puno sa lugar na iyon. Ramdam mong nasa probinsya ka talaga. Inilabas ko ang cellphone ko at biglang nag-video. Gusto kong gumawa ng experimental film, sabi ko sa kanila. Kahit walang script, sinimulan ko ang pag-shoot. Naisip ko, experimental naman ito, bahala na kung anong kalabasan. Ang ginawa kong mga aktor: ang dalawa kong pinsan. Wala akong ibinigay na instruction sa kanila. Kinunan ko lang silang dalawa ng video habang naglalakad, tumatakbo, at pinaglalaruan ang mga halaman at puno sa paligid. Ang kinalabasan ng film nang ini-edit ko: black and white, wala pang dalawang minuto ang tagal, at walang diyalogo. Pinatungan ko ito ng isang copyright-free na background music, na ang genre ay experimental din, at ang tanging lyrics lang ay “Please make your way to the nearest safe place.” Natuwa kami ng mga pinsan ko dahil bumagay sa mga tagpo sa pelikula ang music. Ang walang kabuluhan nilang paglakad, pagtakbo, at paglalaro, biglang nagkaroon ng kahulugan. Para talaga silang may tinatakasan na panganib at naghahanap ng isang ligtas na lugar. Sa huli, napagdesisyunan naming To the Nearest Safe Place ang pamagat ng pelikula.

Mahalaga ang pananatili sa isang ligtas na lugar, lalo na sa panahon ng pandemya. Subalit may mga tao na hindi puwedeng manatili lang sa bahay, kagaya ng ate kong frontliner na nása ibang bansa. Habang ipinagagawa ang bahay namin dito sa Pilipinas gámit ang perang matagal niyang pinag-ipunan, nagpositibo siya sa COVID-19. Hindi siya bida sa isang pelikula, hindi niya puwedeng basta-basta takbuhan ang isang panganib, lalo na kung hindi ito nakikita. Araw-araw, tuwing pagkagising ko, iniisip ko kung ano ang kahihinatnan niya. Nahihirapan akong kumustahin siya, kahit sa chat lang, dahil ayaw kong harapin ang katotohanan na mayroon talaga siyang sakit at nása lugar siya na malayong-malayo sa amin. Iniisip ko rin si Papa na nasa ibang bansa kagaya niya. Gusto kong hanapin ang pinakamalapit na daan upang magsama-sama kaming lahat. Subalit alam kong imposible. At wala akong magagawa.

Isa sa mga naidulot sa akin ng quarantine ay ang madalas na paggunita. Kapag iniisip ko ang mga pangyayari bago tuluyang kumalat ang virus sa bansa, para akong tumitingin sa isang napakatagal nang alaala. Halimbawa, pakiramdam ko, parang isang taon na akong hindi nakasasakay ng bus galing Maynila pauwi rito sa Laguna. Pero ang totoo, nangyari lang iyon noong Marso, noong sinuspinde nang isang linggo ang mga klase dahil nagkaroon na ng kaso ng COVID-19 sa NCR, noong umuwi ako sa apartment ko sa San Juan upang kunin ang mga damit ko, noong pumunta ako sa terminal ng bus sa Legarda upang umuwi nga sa probinsya.

Ilang buwan na akong hindi nakababalik sa Maynila simula pa noong Marso. Naiwan ko roon ang ilan ko pang mga damit na hanggang ngayon ay hindi ko pa nakukuha. Dahil din sa quarantine kayâ ko napagtanto na kahit gaano kagulo ang lungsod, hahanap-hanapin ko pa rin ito. Ngunit, kung pag-uusapan ang kaligtasan, siguradong mas ligtas ako rito sa probinsya. Halos walang kaso ng virus dito sa Mabitac. Kung mayroon man, paisa-isa, at nagnenegatibo rin naman kaagad. Ito na lang ang sinasabi ko kapag nakararamdaman ako ng inip dito sa amin.

Subalit hindi nananatiling ligtas ang isang lugar. Laging may darating na panganib kahit maliit lang ang tsansa. At bakit nga ba nagkakataon na iyong malapít sa iyo ang daratnan ng panganib na iyon? Parang isang pelikula. Pinaliliit ang mundo sa loob ng apat na sulok ng camera. Hindi ba ang mga bida o malapít sa bida ang laging humaharap sa pagsubok, na para bang wala nang ibang tao sa daigdig? Ngunit, nangyayari din pala ito sa totoong buhay.

Nang natapos na ang renovation ng bahay namin at ilang linggo na kaming nakauwi, nagpositibo sa COVID-19 ang asawa ni Mommy. Ito lamang, nang sandaling iyon, ang positibo sa buong bayan namin. Inisip ko ang mga pinsan kong bida sa pelikulang To the Nearest Safe Place. Hindi na sila makatatakbo, dahil hindi na muna sila puwedeng lumabas. Nang sandaling iyon, kaming mga nasa paligid nila ang kailangang maging ligtas sa panganib.

Pakiramdam ko, bumabaw ang kaligayahan ko dahil sa quarantine. Ang bilis kong matuwa sa mga bagay na simple lang. Ngunit, kapag inisiip ko kung bakit ba talaga ako masaya, napagtatanto ko na mayroon naman palang malalim na dahilan. Iyong paggaling ng ate ko sa COVID-19, halimbawa. O iyong pagiging negatibo ng pamilya nina Mommy sa virus. Napatunayan nila na kaya naman talagang takbuhan o lampasan ang mga panganib.

Maliban sa mga pinsan ko, hindi ko pa ipinapanood sa iba ang pelikulang ginawa namin. Marahil, hindi ko naman talaga ginawa ang pelikulang iyon upang ipapanood. Marahil, gusto ko lang talagang ipreserba ang alaalang iyon, upang balang-araw ay mayroon kaming babalikan. Kahit nga sa simula pa lang, wala naman talagang dahilan kung bakit namin iyon ginawa. Hindi ko alam kung kailan ulit kami gagawa ng pelikula (o kung pelikula ba talaga iyong maituturing), o kung papayag ba sila na gawin ko ulit silang artista. Gayunpaman, sigurado ako na sa totoong buhay, kahit ano man ang dumating na panganib sa aming lahat, sama-sama namin itong lalampasan. Hanggang sa matagpuan namin ang isang ligtas na lugar.


ABOUT THE PRIZES

In solidarity with the Filipino community affected by COVID-19, the Ateneo Art Gallery in cooperation with the Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation, Inc. has organized the AAG x KLFI Essay Writing Prizes to support writers affected by the crisis. With the theme “Thoughts and Actions of Our Time: Surmounting the Pandemic,” writers were encouraged to submit essays that reflect on or discuss the turmoil, struggles, initiatives, and expressions of hope during these trying times.

Through this Prize, the Ateneo Art Gallery hopes to extend assistance to artists and writers in its capacity as a university museum highlighting the Filipino creativity, strength, and resilience during this difficult period.

After receiving more than 100 submissions for the competition, six (6) winning entries were selected by a panel of jurors for each of the student and non-student categories. Writers of the winning entries received a monetary prize and their essays will be published by the Ateneo Art Gallery in an exhibition catalog accompanied by images of shortlisted works from the Marciano Galang Acquisition Prize (MGAP). Essays are also published in the Vital Points website, the online platform for art criticism developed by AAG and KLFI.

View the online exhibition for MGAP and the AAG-KLFI writing competition here.

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Fabian dela Rosa, Portrait of Purita Kalaw-Ledesma, Oil on Canvas | 1932