Philippines 2018

Title: “The City Who Had Two Navels”
Commissioner: Virgilio S. Almario Chairman, National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)
Curator: Edson Cabalfin
Exhibitors: Yason Banal, De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde, School of Design and Arts; TAO-Pilipinas, University of San Carlos – School of Architecture, Fine Arts and Design, University of the Philippines – Diliman, College of Architecture, University of the Philippines – Mindanao, Department of Architecture

Inspired by Filipino National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin’s novel “The Woman Who Had Two Navels” (1961), the Philippine Pavilion confronts the tension between the vicissitudes of the past and the challenges of constructing contemporary subjectivity. It highlights two “navels” that are in constant dialogue: the forces of colonialism and neoliberalism. The juncture of these two forces represents an emergent wave of postcolonial anxieties born out of the process of exiting the colonial condition. To address this burgeoning anxiety, the pavilion created a think-tank consortium composed of future architects, planners and designers from select Philippine schools and organizations to respond to the two “navels” in the exhibition through the lens of three Philippine metropolitan cities. Through the speculations about the intertwined forces and the concomitant architectural and urban issues, Philippine “Freespace” anticipates possibilities for renewed life and hope.