There is a distinct, quiet gravity that fills the Main Gallery of Y Space at the Yuchengco Museum, where BAMBOOVILLAGE recently unveiled “PASULONG: Recent Sculptures by Anton V. Quisumbing.”
The opening reception last 15 May served as a powerful reminder that true art does not merely comment on tragedy — it actively deconstructs and rebuilds it. Curated with sharp intellectual rigor by Miguel Rosales, and framed within an immaculate, minimalist environment designed by Caramel Creative Consultancy, the exhibition marks a major pivotal shift for Quisumbing. After a solitary, reflective period spent at the canvas, the artist returns to three-dimensional forms with 29 bronze compositions born from literal ruin. For two painstaking years, Quisumbing worked with the mangled remains of bronze boat propellers salvaged from the aftermath of typhoon “Odette” in 2021, transforming the heavy metal of a natural disaster into a deeply poetic exploration of loss, memory and psychological repair.
What makes “PASULONG” so compelling is how it captures the non-linear, deeply exhausting nature of healing. The pieces on display wrestle openly with the unforgiving, stubborn malleability of bronze — a physical struggle that mirrors the agonizing process of emerging from personal and collective upheaval. Visitors are met with an extraordinary tension between weight and fluidity; sweeping material curvatures and sweeping arcs mimic hurried strokes toward an unknown future, while other, more rigid structures stand firm like totemic moral compasses.
The crowning achievement of the collection is Sight, a twisted, misshapen figure that stands defiantly on a warped metal base, its horizontal, almond-shaped eye and defensive armor embodying a profound lightness despite the heavy history it carries. Running at the RCBC Plaza in Makati City until 30 May 2026, the exhibition is more than a mere showcase of technical mastery; it is a profound point of departure, proving that even amid total destruction, the human spirit retains absolute control over what it chooses to forge.
