There might have been some delays due to logistics and permits from the local government unit, but the rehabilitation of the CCP Main Building has been underway.
Since the wear and tear of the iconic building has accumulated through the decades, it might take a while before we could watch another performance inside its theaters and visit its galleries for exhibitions.
But as they say, the show must go on. The Cultural Center of the Philippines always finds ways to bring world-class shows to Filipino audiences and continues its mandate to promote the best Philippine talents while nurturing the broadest audiences.
While the center still has the Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez (CCP Blackbox Theater) as performance venue, the leading art institution in the country The CCP has been looking for ways to connect with audiences and presents its artistic programming by partnering with exhibition spaces and performing arts venues in and outside of Metro Manila and maximizing its existing spaces in the CCP Complex.
It has partnered with the Metropolitan Theater in Manila for orchestra concerts by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and other performances; ballet shows and theater performances at the Samsung Theater in Circuit Makati, Theater At Solaire; film festival at PICC, among others. There are also traveling exhibitions in various locations such as Yuchengco Museum scheduled throughout the year.
But while collaboration with different venues is the game plan for the next two or three years, there is nothing like having your own home, as they say.
This might be one of the reasons CCP decided to transform the third floor of the TIG into a gallery and exhibition space, dubbed Bulwagang Roberto Chabet (CCP TIG Gallery), to continue its visual arts programs and projects.
Deemed a fitting move to create an exhibition space, the new gallery hopes to complement the philosophy of the CCP Blackbox Theater. The blackbox theater has been designed to cater to new works that are out-of-the-box; the same principle that the Bulwagang Roberto Chabet upholds. In time, the new gallery will host contemporary and experimental exhibitions, as well as innovative collaborations.
“As its mandate, the CCP creates a balance between being in touch with Philippine art history and making space for contemporary methods of artmaking. We hope to accomplish and fortify that responsibility through Bulwagang Roberto Chabet,” said CCP President Margie Moran-Floirendo.
The new exhibition space aims to extend the CCP’s thrust of promoting artistic excellence and nurturing of art making and appreciation while the Main Building undergoes rehabilitation.
The CCP plans to utilize Bulwagang Roberto Chabet as an artistic space for young artists with limited exposure as well as fresh and innovative ideas that artists and curators would like to explore through the CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division’s Exhibition Venue Grant program.
“We hope the new gallery will become a dynamic space to showcase works from the CCP 21AM collection, reframed and recontextualized to respond to the interests and concerns of a wider audience. The CCP has been encouraging explorations and innovations in artmaking and exhibition-making by providing not just space but also curatorial assistance,” said Moran-Floirendo.
The new gallery is named after a Filipino conceptual artist recognized as one of the most influential Filipino artists in the post-war generation. Naming the exhibition space after Roberto Chabet honors the significant contributions of the late visual artist in the Philippine art community. It represents his recognition of the potential and energy young and emerging artists bring and contribute to the trajectory of local contemporary art.
Known for his diverse works that sought more inclusive methods of arts, Chabet was the first museum director of the CCP from 1967 to 1971. A Gawad CCP Para sa Sining Awards recipient, he was instrumental in acquiring some of the pieces included in the current CCP 21AM Collection, as well as in establishing the CCP Thirteen Artists Awards in 1970 as a curatorial project. The stage curtain of the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater) is based on the painting of Chabet, rendered on a tapestry made in Kyoto, Japan.
The CCP’s Bulwagang Roberto Chabet (TIG Gallery) officially opens to the public with Space/Place, an exhibition by the Association of Pinoyprintmakers, which runs until June 18.
Do check out the new gallery and its debut exhibit at the third floor of Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez, located at the CCP Complex (fronting PICC).