Joar Songcuya
Curated by Ricky Francisco
January 8 – February 5, 2022
Altro Mondo Creative Space | Salotto Matteo
1159 Chino Roces Avenue, San Antonio Village, 1203 Makati
for whom the sea calls?
my disturbed heart asks,
I looked in the water
my unquiet reflection
washed by the running waves
A man’s close encounter with the sea, a discovery of the water’s mighty power and beauty. How the sea enchants, provokes, tests, comforts, endangers a man who is in search of the world and himself. The seaman as a pilgrim. The sea becoming his own mirror of the world, and himself becoming an extension of the sea.
Joar Songcuya is a sailor, a marine engineer, and an emerging self-taught artist. He started sailing the world as an apprentice at 18 years old after receiving a scholarship from the Norwegian Shipowners Association. He graduated with a degree in Marine Engineering from John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University- Molo (formerly Iloilo Maritime Academy) with four scholarships’; the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi Company-sponsored scholarship, Model cadet, Academic, and Journalism scholarship. He graduated Cum Laude, was nominated for the Ayala Young Leaders Congress, was awarded as one of the 2011 Ten Outstanding Students of Iloilo Awards by ABS-CBN Iloilo and JCI Regatta, an awardee of Philippine Red Cross Youth Iloilo Chapter for Volunteerism.
He has documented his travels and sea life into sketchbook drawings, canvas paintings, writings, and photography after sailing the world for 10 years onboard a Chemical tanker ship, Oil tankers, and Bulk Carriers traveling worldwide. He mounted his first solo exhibition last January “The History of Water” curated by Charlie Samuya Veric at the Altro Mondo Gallery. He presented his new series “Atlantiko, Pasipiko, Artiko” curated by Patrick Flores for the 2021 Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference . His “Seamanship Project” for 2022-2023 was chosen by Para Site Hongkong as one of the grantees of the 2021 NoEXit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour-Philippines. He is currently taking art history courses at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.
The gallery is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. For inquiries, please contact on Facebook or Instagram. You can also message via Viber or WhatsApp at 0917 888 7872.
