A blood red art installation that looks like a barricade is rising at the University of the Philippines Diliman to mark 50 years since the Diliman Commune that established the campus as one of the capitals of student activism.
Designed by acclaimed sculptor Toym Imao, "Barikada", Filipino for barricade, is being set up at Quezon Hall one week after the Department of National Defense ended it 30-year-old accord with UP on the conduct of state forces on campus.
The UP-DND agreement was unilaterally abbrogated by the government five decades since the 1971 Diliman Commune, when UP students and faculty stood with transport workers to barricade the university entrance in protest of skyrocketing oil prices.
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"Now, more than ever, we need to remember our history in light of the current attacks on our institution, organizations, faculty, and studentry," said Imao, whose works are as much social commentary as they are works of art, said.
Another installation called, "Desaparecidos", which translates to "the disappeared", will also be set up at the UP Theater to commemorate the lives of activists who were never found again after Martial Law.
The two installations commemorating the Diliman Commune are set to open the UP Diliman Arts and Culture Festival of 2021, themed "Engkwentro," that will also celebrate the 5th centenary of the Battle of Mactan and of the Philippines' Christianization.
The festival will last from February to April 2021, UP Diliman Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (OICA) said.
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