Folklore rules again

By Noel Galon de Leon

There are exhibitions that simply display art, and then there are those that speak, that whisper, confront, and summon memory. “Bag-ong Binaladbad: Oral–Visual,” currently on view at the Hulot Gallery, Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art until November 30, 2025, belongs to the latter. Curated by Liby Limoso in collaboration with Folklore Pilipinas, this exhibition does not merely present works but unravels a cultural landscape, bringing together artists from across the Visayas to retell our myths, spirits, and cosmologies. The show is an act of reclamation, a reminder that the stories of our ancestors are not relics. They are living forces waiting to be seen anew through the language of contemporary art.

What makes this exhibition particularly compelling is its insistence that the study of folklore is the study of the soul of the people. This belief feels urgent in an age when so much of our collective consciousness is being shaped by algorithms and imported aesthetics. To revisit folklore through the visual arts is to look inward, to confront the pulse that binds us as a people. It is a kind of cultural archaeology where artists dig through oral narratives, unearthing forgotten symbols and reinterpreting them through form, color, and gesture. These are not quaint decorations of the past. They are acts of resistance, reminders that heritage must evolve, not evaporate.

What sets “Bag-ong Binaladbad” apart is its critical intelligence. Each work feels researched, meditated upon, and deeply aware of its source material. This is not art that panders to nostalgia. Rather, it questions how folklore survives modernity, how myths can coexist with the urban, the digital, and the global. It challenges both artist and audience to treat folklore not as sentimental ornament but as epistemology, as a way of knowing. The exhibition argues subtly but powerfully that the creative act must be rooted in inquiry. Art without study, after all, becomes aesthetic mimicry, beautiful perhaps, but hollow.

This point becomes especially evident in Merlie Alunan’s painting “Amburukay” (2025). Rendered in acrylic on canvas, 48 × 48 cm, the work stands out not only for its technical finesse but for its quiet authority. You can sense the discipline, the restraint, the deliberate clarity of execution. Alunan, already a respected literary figure and visual artist, approaches her subject, the mythic Amburukay, with a scholar’s rigor and an artist’s intuition. Her brushwork does not merely illustrate; it interprets. Every line feels weighed, every color deliberate, echoing her long-standing dialogue with Philippine folklore. “Amburukay” is proof that art rooted in research, cultural understanding, and critical thought transcends the superficial. It becomes not just representation but revelation.

This is the kind of art that young artists must learn from, art that respects its material, its origin, and its cultural weight. Too often today, artistic trends lean toward the fast and the fashionable, prioritizing visibility over substance. Exhibitions like “Bag-ong Binaladbad” remind us that the most powerful art grows from patience, curiosity, and critique. To be critical is not to be cold or elitist; it is to care enough to ask questions, to challenge the easy reading, and to go deeper. A research-based practice does not stifle creativity; it sharpens it. It transforms folklore from a static story into a living conversation.

Such exhibitions are vital because they open a door for younger audiences to encounter their heritage through contemporary sensibilities. When young people see the myths of the Visayas reimagined in vibrant colors, digital compositions, and sculptural forms, folklore stops being a classroom subject and becomes an emotional encounter. These reinterpretations humanize tradition. They prove that ancient tales can coexist with modern culture, that the diwata can live on in a gallery just as powerfully as in a forest. Introducing children and young artists to this kind of work plants seeds of cultural literacy and critical empathy. They learn that art is not only about beauty. It is about memory, meaning, and making sense of who we are.

“Bag-ong Binaladbad: Oral–Visual” is not merely an exhibition but a conversation between generations. It asks both artist and audience to reflect on what it means to inherit and reinterpret. The exhibition asserts that to truly honor folklore, one must not only retell it but rethink it. It is through this rethinking that the old stories breathe again, that the myths of our islands transform into mirrors reflecting our contemporary struggles and aspirations.

In an era when so much of Filipino art is pressured to align with international trends, this exhibition stands as a bold reminder that our local narratives are not provincial. They are profound. The Visayan myths are not marginal footnotes to global art history. They are part of the human imagination’s vast archive.

Exhibitions like this insist that our folklore deserves not only preservation but elevation.

Yes, “Bag-ong Binaladbad: Oral–Visual” deserves to be talked about, written about, and most importantly experienced. It is an exhibition that dignifies our heritage and challenges our complacency. It reminds us that art, when done with intellect and sincerity, is an act of remembering and a gesture of renewal. To the young artists out there, be bold enough to research, to question, to dig. Our islands are full of stories still waiting to be seen. Do not just paint what is popular; paint what is profound. In doing so, you do not only create art. You continue the story of who we are.

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Noel Galon de Leon is a writer and educator at University of the Philippines Visayas, where he teaches in both the Division of Professional Education and U.P. High School in Iloilo. He serves as an Executive Council Member of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts-National Committee on Literary Arts.