The Artist as Sower

Philippines 🇵🇭

“Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

Mark 4:8 NIV

In March 2020, our family found ourselves locked down in our farm lot in Alfonso, Cavite upon our return from a company retreat in Puerto Galera. Together with a handful of young artists we were hosting from Iloilo, Samar, Romblon and Aklan, along with 3 staff, we tried to create a semblance of normalcy and purposiveness by developing the residency program we started in 2018. We continued working in our studio, held art history classes and assigned art movements and themes to each artist. We also did portfolio reviews and show and tell sessions, extending the consultations to friends and members of the group via Zoom and FB messenger when internet connection permitted. Based on each other’s feedback, we refined the program. The classes and critiques reinvigorated a heightened sense of what art is for each of us, as well as enabled us to have a clearer understanding of its instrumental role in shaping society and defining humanity.

The lockdown allowed us to pause and cocoon ourselves in our space which we named “Linangan” (place for honing skills/talent) after the main multi-purpose hall which hosted workshops and seminars. The construction of the 200-step stairway going to the Catmon river which began soon-after the lockdown in order to give livelihood to the local masons and carpenters, catalyzed Linangan’s “build, build, build” projects. By the end of the year, new facilities and the development of the space were built, shaping the program of the Linangan Art Residency.

The precariousness of food supply during the lockdown had us planting our own organic garden. What started as a coping mechanism to survive became a rich source of learning, bonding, healing and joy for us. Organic gardening shaped Linangan’s identity by providing an activity and space for meaningful interaction that led to community-building; while empowering its tenders with a sustainable way to nourish themselves. By tilling the soil together and growing our own food, we reconnected to the fundamental relationship of culture (human-defined life) to agriculture (the cultivation of land to nourish a community). It is an apt metaphor for the spirit of Linangan which fosters mutual cultivation, empowerment, healing and learning.

Our growing ecological awareness moved us towards a sharing economy, one where each community member is a resource as well as a recipient. The tight-knit creative community that bloomed in Linangan affirmed the importance of a shared space for exchanging ideas and aligning goals in the process of defining culture.

Two years after, Linangan has produced 52 graduates from 17 provinces across the country. Looking back, though it may seem that Linangan gestated just during the pandemic, I realized that it was the sprouting of a seed planted long ago by our Lolo Limerio, a pastor, community leader and farmer.Taking his family to different provinces for his assignments allowed them to immerse in the diverse cultures of our archipelagic country. Who knew that their well-traveled childhood will be a fertile ground for an art school dedicated to shaping national culture! I smile as I recall his unique take on faith: It is not a question of whether or not you have faith in God, it is God’s unwavering faith in us that should empower us to love and fulfill her purpose for us in this world!