Arlene Esperida and her ATC movement

Arlene Esperida is a Japan-based artist who I met at the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) conference in Manila in '03, if my memory is having a good day. Somewhere in our house in Baguio is a painting of hers, mainly in orange, with biomorphic forms.

Since then, we rediscovered one another when I still had a Facebook account. Then we embarked on this small project of helping democratize art through artist trading cards or ATCs. I started one with the Baguio Aquarelle Society in '09 or thereabouts (excuse the occasional lapse in factual or episodic memory; rest assured the associative or long memory is intact). For a time I was using these cards as my business cards, although more pragmatic friends would say, how come I have to make these one-of-a-kind cards, usually practice paintings in small sizes before I enlarge them, into business cards? In short, impractical, probably they're gauging the effort in terms of use of paint, images, etc.

Well, visual artists and writers make heroic choices every day, that's all I can say. Meanwhile, Arlene and I have corresponded by postal mail; so have Gladys Lyn "Nini" Teves Lapuz and I in the same fashion off and on for many years now.

Meanwhile, I've rid myself of the collecting bug but not yet in terms of ATCs. They're defined by this site http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Artist-Trading-Cards as having begun "in the tradition of business cards, but with a personal, artistic twist. Most ATCs are created on paper, but they may also be any other medium that can be worked in a suitable size. ATCs are traditionally the size of baseball cards and other trading cards. They're a fun way to exchange your own one-of-a-kind artistic flair with other artists you meet. You can also use them as business cards."

I am sharing part of my loot (a couple that my former classmate Potchie Lazaro swapped with my works ended up with Jessica Zafra--I knew she'd like his kapre and tikbalang). I encourage art students, or anyone interested in reviving "snail mail", to put more fun into something handmade. We all spend much too much time in front of our laptops and Netbooks (unwittingly, we expose ourselves to these machines' radiation, too). So here's to ATCs and how they've revived art in small sizes, penmanship, trips to the post office, among other heroic everyday choices.

The actual sizes of these ATCs are sometimes even smaller than the images below. Thank you, Arlene, Jenny Cariño, Norman Chow, Toottee Chanco-Pacis, Nini Lapuz, Sinag de Leon and other fellow swappers and pen pals.

 

'Care Divas': A Play Depicting the Agony of OFWs

The turmoil in the Middle East was not in the picture when the play dates for “Care Divas” were being planned but the harrowing stories of Overseas Filipino Workers fleeing Libya provide a gripping background to the musical comedy-drama mounted by the Philippine Education Theater Association (PETA).

“Care Divas” is about gay caregivers in Israel.

“The term diva has been used to refer to glass-breaking female singers or extremely demanding and fussy celebrities,” PETA explains in a statement. “However, independent and wildly talented gay men (a.k.a. transvestites) can be divas, too.”

Written by Liza Magtoto and with lyrics and music by Vincent de Jesus, “Care Divas,” despite its show-stopping cabaret revue numbers, holds up a mirror where Filipinos can see themselves as they are: a scattered people who leave family and other loved ones behind to toil for the almighty dollar that would pull up from dire straits almost the entire clan through monthly remittances.

It is the story and fate of gay care givers Chelsea (ably played by Melvin Lee), Shai (de Jesus), Kayla (alternately played by Ricci Chan and Jerald Napoles), Thalia (Dudz Terana and Jason Barcial) and Jonee (Phil Noble and Buddy Caramat) who tend for the sick and elderly Israelis (played by Paul Holme in repertory manner) in the daytime.

At night, these five caregivers turn into transgender performers, complete with wigs, slinky women’s clothes and platform heels.

“Armed by their aspirations (and their pointed stilettos), their true spirits and creativity shine through their performances,” PETA said. “They dream of going big time divas and encounter a few problems along the way. But it is through their journey of being a small-time group of singers that they are able to share valuable experiences and friendships that bind strangers in a strange land.”

Even if their punch lines bring the house down, one flinches from the truth in their songs. “Oy Vey” (Oh woe) talks about how care givers (or domestics stationed abroad) care for other people’s elderly and infirm while leaving aging, just as sickly, parents at home.

Chelsea sings:

“Naku, naku, naku, ano ba’ng nangyari dito?
Inaalagaan ko’y hindi ko kadugo
Samantalang ang sarili kong ina
Saklay lamang ang umaakay
Dahil ang kanyang anak may inaakay na iba.
Naku, naku, naku ano ba’ng nangyari dito?”

For a gay man like Shai, his situation feels like “walang anak pero maraming pasanin (childless but with many responsibilities).”

While interacting with his grumpy employer, Shai hears the voice of his demanding termagant of a mother who is critical of his homosexuality, among other issues.

Central to Chelsea’s character is his unquestioning love for a Palestinian illegal worker in Israeli territory. It is doomed love from the start. But for the Palestinian attracted to Chelsea, it is a realization that behind his seemingly macho exterior, there lies a hidden gay man willing to accept Chelsea for what he is.

Veteran actress and ranking PETA officer CB Garrucho plays a minor role — that of the typical Jewish mother who is strict with money, conservative in thinking and ready to betray to the authorities an illegal employee who lacks the proper papers.

The play acts out columnist-blogger Jessica Zafra’s theory of world domination by Filipinos through far-reaching influence of yayas and care givahs. Chelsea teaches his employer the folk ditty “Bahay Kubo;” another care giver teaches a one-eyed, Yiddish-speaking employer, who was hurt in the Israeli-Palestinian skirmish, the meaning of the parol (Christianity’s Christmas lantern).

Based on a real-life story, “Care Divas,” surprisingly is written by a woman (Magtoto) and directed by a woman (Maribel Legarda) with great sensitivity.

Somehow, the pain that migrant workers go through as they adjust to different climes and cultures is couched by the colorful sward-speak (the most dynamic language in the Philippines without a doubt.

The musical raises in viewers the hope that the country’s leaders will realize the economy can be held up by OFW remittances up to a certain point only and that exposing Filipinos to wars and similar societal upheavals does not speak well of any administration.

Originally published by VERA Files/Yahoo Philippines, March 10, 2011

Image from “Care Divas” poster, sourced by VERA Files.