The Cultural Center of the Philippines is known to be a venue for exhibitions of up-and-coming artists. For many years now, it has also presented the thesis exhibitions of the graduating students in the visual arts from the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA).
This 2022, the CCP presents “Homecoming Queens,” a PHSA Grade 12 Thesis Exhibition featuring works by Moon Caharop, Luce Melegrito, and Lei Ortega. The exhibition is ongoing until October 16 at the CCP’s Bulwagang Carlos V. Francisco (Little Theater Lobby).
The Visual Arts students of Batch Alice Reyes – Francisco Feliciano, class 2022 of the PHSA, were the first batch of students who finished the entirety of their senior high school program online. “Homecoming Queens” explores the collective growth of the three visual artists from the provinces of Bulacan, Ilocos Sur, and Leyte, as they found themselves contained within the boundaries of their homes during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The works that comprise this exhibit venture on the complexities of returning home– presenting opportunities to revisit and reminisce. Yet this was also a period of confrontations, particularly with spaces that are different, yet strangely familiar.
Memory plays a fundamental part in how each artist has reached their conclusion—because “Homecoming Queens,” at its core, is a collection of personal histories from each student-artist’s homecoming. They look into narratives from home; interviewing and immersing themselves within their respective communities; finding parallels with other people’s experiences and of their own; and by unraveling these layer by layer, they have rightfully claimed their titles of being their province’s homecoming queens.
“Homecoming Queens” opened on September 15, 2022. An Artist Talk and Workshop is also scheduled in line with the exhibition on October 8 at 1pm, at the CCP Bulwagang Carlos V. Francisco (Little Theater Lobby). Admission is free, but visitors must present their vaccination cards upon entry. Exhibition viewing hours are from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm. For more information, contact the CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division at telephone 88321125 loc 1504/1505, email vamd@culturalcenter.gov.ph or through their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at @ccpvamd.
