Provenance: Private collection, Manila

Exhibited: Boston Gallery (in cooperation with Art Verite), Habang Papalayo, Quezon City, July 10 - 22, 2010

ABOUT THE WORK

Emmanuel Garibay created Gunita in 2010 in anticipation of the 150th anniversary of the birth of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, who was born on June 19, 1861, hence the work’s title, which translates to “remembrance.” A solemn commemoration. An enduring homage. A continuing struggle. Gunita formed part of Garibay’s 2010 show at the Boston Art Gallery titled “Habang Papalayo,” in which he tackled compelling themes surrounding our collective identity and shared history. Garibay makes us ponder: Do we, as a nation, continue to enshrine the value of selfdetermination handed to us by our valiant ancestors? The work at hand brings to mind an iconic photograph of Rizal taken during the 1890s. It is ubiquitously found everywhere: in classrooms, museums, government offices, postcards, stamps, books, and even art. It signifies that Rizal is omnipresent; Rizal lives in the struggling farmers fighting for genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization, the exploited workers clamoring for livable wages and humane working conditions, the militant youth fighting for a nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented education, the fisherfolks lobbying for a reformed fisheries program, the environmentalists calling for the protection and sustainable development of the environment, and all Filipinos yearning to be emancipated from the exploitation and enslavement brought by the ills of successive regimes that continue to be subservient to its foreign oppressors. Rizal exemplifies, and Garibay professes, our crucial role in arousing, organizing, and mobilizing the greater number of people to march for genuine sovereignty. Rizal’s contributions to the awakening of national consciousness in the late 19th-century Philippines that would culminate in the Philippine revolution against Spain and the nation’s subsequent independence are unequivocal and irrefutable. His enduring legacy is immortalized through his writings, particularly the Noli and the El Fili—his art. As we anticipate the 127th anniversary of Rizal’s martyrdom on December 30, Garibay’s Gunita is a fitting reminder not only of Rizal’s legacy; he was a victim of state persecution. Thus, the power toward liberation from systemic oppression lies in our potent collective action. We might ask ourselves: How far have we come, and how far are we willing to pursue to safeguard this nation? (Adrian Maranan)