Participatory Propulsions: New Tendencies in Philippine Protest/Revolutionary Art
This essay investigates alignments between contemporary art practices and the aims of the National Democratic movement in the Philippines. We will begin with the context of the Philippines and the National Democratic movement, identifying key early examples of artistic experimentation and protest/revolutionary art (with particular reference to the work of the Kaisahan artists’ organisation and David Medalla’s activities in the 1970s); followed by case studies of contemporary art practices engaging with National Democratic activism (with reference to SAKA, Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien, and Renz Lee). In articulating these contemporary practices in this way we aim to sketch out a reading of the broadening forms of political commitment and revolutionary art in the Philippines; and to locate potential ‘powerful weapons for uniting and educating the people and for attacking and destroying the enemy’ within an expanded field of contemporary art.
