Tatong Recheta Torres, "Untitled (Diptych)", at Art Informal
The invitation said be there at six, and I thought I’d be fashionably late. I arrived close to seven pm, wondering if I could get away with not strictly following the Filipiniana dress code. I need not have stressed. I got there to find the venue in darkness, tons of people jostling about in the sidelines, trying to get past usherettes standing guard, preventing guests from crossing the red cordon that ringed the venue. Apparently, the ribbon had yet to be cut. Music blared from a stage at the far end where song and dance numbers were going on. Was this an art fair? The crowds could but peer at the pieces on display as tempers flared. Incredibly, this state of affairs continued for an hour and a half, until the last politician had given what sounded like filibuster from a privilege speech. Only then did the lights come on. A surreal, truly chaotic, Only in da Pilipins, tableau unfolded on the vernissage of our city’s sole art fair.