Scenes Reclaimed
Cinemalaya 50 x Cinemalaya 15

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Scenes Reclaimed examines the history of intimacies between Philippine cinema and Philippine politics across historic fluctuations in the degree of artistic autonomy and political democracy. It takes as its starting point the conjugal dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos and their romance with technologies of visibility such as cinema and the edifice complex. Artifactual displays of Marcos's vanity projects like biopics, paintings, and dance performances alternate with news clippings of Marcosian brutality—from the death of construction workers in Imelda’s “Parthenon of Film” to the mysterious killings of government official Guillermo de Vega—revealing the sinister underside of this cultural megalomania.

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But here, the exhibition refuses the seamless narrative of the state-cinema complex that forecloses agency and resistance in the face of dictatorial patronage and state regulation and teases out the uneasy yet real coexistence of complementarities and tensions between the motives and impulses of state functionaries and artists. In this account of cultural politics under the dictatorship, artistic and political contestations that revolved around the issues of national identity and culture, as well as freedom and human rights, took place within the very edifice of artistic hegemony and cultural control.

—Laurence Marvin Castillo, Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino

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Not all exhibits are created equal, and archival exhibition claims its own privilege. Admittedly, I am partial to archival exhibitions; it was the approach to exhibiting most suited for the Maceda exhibit series, which was my own task for many moons. Hence, I remember being so impressed with the exhibit Scenes Reclaimed: CCP 50 × Cinemalaya 15 for how ably and effectively it was able to respond to the unique hurdles of archival exhibition, four of which I identify here and which I myself have had to deal with so many times and have yet to master in my own curatorial practice.

In archival exhibition, one is not just exhibiting objects; one is exhibiting records. By definition, records are materials generated from or evidence of conducted affairs that have enduring value and present valuable information. Each record therefore that is displayed in the exhibit should present and come from a point of recognizable cohesion.

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And, since it is an exhibit, recognition of this wholeness should be understood within the amount of time audiences are willing to spend in a museum. For exhibitions, we are talking about glancing and browsing. Lingering is rather rare. This is the second challenge of an archival exhibit: one is exhibiting contexts. It is like exhibiting a book, but the content has to be understood at a glance by one’s audience. Usually, those who choose to do archival exhibits can already claim a certain level of familiarity, if not expertise, with the records. But since these archival materials are usually entangled within deeper or larger contexts that only experts know about, there is a tendency to alienate audiences if contexts are not explained or expressed well enough.

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Certainly, the audience presents the real challenge to archival exhibition. There are at least three types of audiences: those who know a lot about the objects being exhibit (experts like yourself); those who know little to absolutely nothing about the exhibited materials (curious minds, if one could be so lucky); and those who don’t give a damn (napadaan lang). All of them when grouped together form the most demanding audience demographics: the general public. Scenes Reclaimed, as with many archival exhibitions that attempt to rehabilitate history and memory, certainly attempts to and must address this public of many persuasions and inhibitions. It is a spectacular challenge when one is exhibiting for a general public, to curate records and contexts and, through them, attempt a critical message for people whose range of responses one cannot fully anticipate.

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Finally, since one is exhibiting records where the context is imperative, for a general public, visual presentation becomes a necessary parameter for the exhibit’s efficacy. It is not enough that every crucial record is there. It is equally important that the exhibit is something people would want to look at. It has to be compelling. It has to be attractive. It has to not be boring. It has to be “worth their while.” One is exhibiting a spectacle, and when it is a spectacle of critical importance, such as our national history and collective memory, its effectiveness for a general public is all the more imperative.

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I am certain that Scenes Reclaimed was staged with a clear objective to contribute to cinema history and appreciation in the country. But with the four points mentioned, I want to recognize that Scenes also contributed to the practice of exhibiting—by giving us space for introspection, a pause, and a moment to examine our own reflection. cal thinking.

—Dayang Yraola, curator, scholar, artist