GUAM - Dinagsa nitong Enero sa Tumon, Guam ang exhibit na binansagang 'Half Flower' na solo exhibit ng Filipino artist na si Gera Datuin na lumaki sa Guam.
Tema ng exhibit ang bulalak na 'Nanasu' na sa Guam lang makikita. Nakaangkla ang konsepto ng exhibit sa pangangalaga sa kalikasan, island resilience, cultural exploration, decolonization at marami pang iba.
“On the large scale of things half-flower literally means you are half-figure, half figure so in my show there’s a lot of figures that are kind of transforming and blooming into a flower or an endanger plant which kind of points toward protecting the land environmental resilience,” sabi ni Guam-based Filipino artist na si Gera Datuin.
Biologist at environmentalist si Datuin pero bihasa rin siya sa paglikha ng mga obra maestra sa pamamagitan ng visual arts. Sinasalamin din nito ang kwento ng kanyang paglaki at pagkamulat sa Guam.
“But if you want to talk about personal. It is --- what it means really to be Filipino-American. What does it mean to uphold tradition in this modern society. What does it mean to be Chamoru-Filipino…and how can we bring those two identities whole. So it is a constant state of in-between,” ani Datuin.
Isa ang estudyanteng si Isaiah Charfauros sa mga naantig sa exhibit lalo na sa kwento ng decolonization ng isla.
“In my opinion, as a young Chamoru man, it is very nice to see how art can portray…how we as people of color, suffered through colonization,” sabi ni Charfauros.
Ito ang first solo exhibit ni Datuin na masisilayan sa Lees-Reyes Art Gallery sa Tumon. Magtatapos ang nasabing exhibit sa katapusan ng Enero.