Pumapapel: Buhos Dibujos

March 20, 2021

Art Portal, Gallery for Contemporary Art
Door 1-A Pelayo St., Davao City

Oftentimes, in order to advance, one must look back. By looking back at the art that was created during the previous era, we can connect with the past masters, learn from their accomplishments, and create a new art for our times without reinventing the proverbial wheel.

Pumapapel: Buhos Dibujos is an exhibition of drawings, showcasing the works from local artists. They intend to elevate the appreciation of drawing as an art form by paying homage to the contributions of Damian Domingo to the development of art as an academic discipline in the Philippines.

Damian Domingo founded the Academia de Dibujo, the first academic drawing school in the country. He welcomed the Indios to train alongside privileged Illustrados with equal rights. Unfortunately, he died in 1834 at age 38 and consequently, the academy died with him, too. Or so they thought.

Inspired by the story of Domingo, the story of the Filipino, and our own stories that tell the seemingly endless pursuit of growth and excellence in our craft, we invite you to take a walk into each of the artists’ internal landscape that brings life into what was just before a blank piece of white paper.