"In order to read the destiny of a people,

it is necessary to open the book of its past..."

-Jose Rizal, The Philippines: A Century Hence

Hiraya Gallery goes into an introspective mood midyear with its upcoming series entitled Saan Ka Nanggaling, Saan Ka Darating , successively featuring the country's top printmakers: Imelda Cajipe-Endaya, Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi and Fil Delacruz.

Taking its cue from the visions of our national hero, Jose Rizal, in his long essay, "The Philippines: A Century Hence," Hiraya offers its patrons and visitors a varied but provocative look-and-see into the Filipinos' responses to the events of the 20th century Philippines.

Pastime: Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi

The proverbial resilience of the modern Filipinos during the times of crisis is the piece de resistance in the humor and wit in the graphic works of Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi. In her earlier prints, she sets a subjective scenario of the Doomsday fears with a take off from video games littered with Hollywood sci-fi sets. Here she digs into the smugness of Filipinos who adapted themselves to the escapist graphics of video games.

In her next series, she picked up the reliance of the Filipinos on the wishful invocations to the protecting spirits of the lowly anting-anting . She suggested that the fantasy lies in the relationships of shapes and the etched graphics. On the same level of pun, she took up the pageantry of the Marian icons as a figure of succor for various personal needs.

Over-all, Tequi's works are a sly and impudent look into the extravagances of the Filipinos' imagination as a face-off during the moments of crisis. The so-called resilience is in fact a lackadaisical attitude and a circumvention away from realities.

This retrospective exhibit of Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi, a sensitive observer of the Filipino spirit, trails next the visual series of pathways into the past entitled Saan Ka Nanggaling, Saan Ka Darating . The show is open to the public from September 11 to 24.