MANILA, PHILIPPINES — VIVA ExCon, a Visayas-wide biennale organized and run by artists, has announced Antique as the home of its 2023 iteration with the theme, “Suba sa Iraya.” This is a translation of a karay-a phrase that means going against a strong current.
The theme was decided upon during a dialogue in San Jose de Buenavista last July 30. Local artists broached the idea of a counterflow, and envisioned VIVA ExCon Antique to be an opportunity to look at their existing art practices while finding resonance with those that they are not familiar with.
For this year’s festival, a new logo was introduced, representative of the Visayan patadyong, or a traditional wrap-around skirt, with the sampaguita flower design. This type of patadyong is distinctly hand-loomed in Bugasong, Antique. The stripe and plaid pattern of the patadyong is formed to simulate a current, or a cross current when inverted. The subtracted pattern also suggests the letters V and A (also when inverted). The colors are the most common combination found in this patadyong from Antique.
VIVA Excon was founded by the Black Artists of Asia, a collective formed in the ’70s of seminal Filipino contemporary artists. It continues to celebrate Visayan art by bridging the islands of the Visayas to provide a venue to facilitate dialogues, interaction, networking, and cultural exchanges, thus addressing fundamental and relevant issues among visual art communities and related stakeholders.
The 2023 VIVA ExCon will be held on November 08-10, 2023 at San Jose de Buenavista and Sibalom, Antique Province, Panay Island, Philippines.
