MANILA, Philippines -- I should start with the art. But I will go straight to the lunch: cold fresh-squeezed lemon juice to whet the appetite, watercress soup, Thai chicken with highland kamuros rice, saba bananas stewed in muscovado and cloves, and Benguet coffee.

Add unhurried conversation and cool air coming in through wide open doors and windows with a view of a lush organic farm and mountain ridge.

And I realize the reason I want to tell you right away about the food and the setting is that it?s all intertwined: the learning, the interaction, the slow food, the mountain air, the art-filled spaces, conversations, lectures and assignments at this two-day art-writing workshop at the Bencab Museum. It was one big delicious weekend.

Organized by the Baguio Writers Group and co-sponsored by the Bencab Art Foundation, the workshop brought together 21 participants ranging in age from late teens to late 60s. It was a diverse group of students, gallery owners, painters, teachers, writers, business owners and two twenty-something residents of Baguio?one a nursing graduate?whose talent with words earned them free entrance to the workshop as writing fellows.

We were joined by National Artist Benedicto Cabrera and his art-loving partner Annie Sarthou, trustee of the Bencab Museum.

Day 1 was divided in two parts, with the morning dedicated to a lecture on art writing and criticism by veteran art writer, editor, and University of Santo Tomas professor Lito Zulueta, and the afternoon devoted to a lesson in art history and appreciation by artist and curator Yason Banal.

Zulueta delivered an engaging overview of art genres and approaches to art, noting the importance of art writing to the artist and the art world, and suggesting that ?art writing is writing what you have sensed with the five senses? and ?providing subjective responses after your objective evaluation.?

Edgy taste

Banal brought his edgy taste in art and his international exposure to the table, emphasizing the pivotal role of video and film in 21st-century art. Viewers were treated to a delectable sampling of art from such movements as Cubism, Dadaism and Surrealism, and to a slideshow of contemporary art from across the globe, from Thailand?s Apichatpong Weerasethakul to Germany?s Hans Haacke and Serbia?s Marina Abranovich.

The Philippines was well-represented in the morning and afternoon sessions, with both facilitators stressing the need for writers to consider the framework and context of art.
Among the artists whose works were evaluated in their context: Poklong Anading, Ringo Bunoan, Bea Camacho, Ernest Concepcion, Louie Cordero, Khavn de la Cruz, Lav Diaz, David Medalla, Ronald Ventura and MM Yu.

An hour before the museum?s 5 p.m. closing time, participants were given time to wander the galleries of contemporary art, and to choose a work of art to write about for the next day?s session.

We arrived on Day 2 with our assignments and were given an hour to explore while the facilitators reviewed our works. When it was time to read our work in front of our peers, we had had time for coffee and a stroll in the museum?s terraced grounds; or for the smokers in the group, a cigarette in the morning sunshine.

Some of us were nervous about sharing our work, but the dominant emotion was probably excitement. We took turns reading our work in front of the artwork in question, while the facilitators and our peers gave feedback.

The writing was distinguished by solid grammar and imaginative language.

Overwhelming feedback

Having a National Artist like Bencab and an arts editor like Zulueta on hand proved very fortunate.

Bencab pointed out certain shortcomings in the writing, such as a lack of commentary on the medium of the artist, like the brushstroke in the case of a painter. It proved remarkably helpful for all the workshoppers to hear the perspective of an artist.

Zulueta was so impressed with the writing he offered to publish the work. He encouraged participants to send him their write-ups, saying that a city with a vibrant arts scene like Baguio needed better arts coverage.

Banal?s comments were overwhelmingly positive, having the overall effect of encouraging participants to write more. He also shared riveting anecdotes from the art world from his time at Goldsmiths at the University of London, where he earned his masters degree in Fine Arts.

Being exposed to all this art and art history and positive feedback, participants were reeling with good feelings at the close of the workshop.

Bencab expressed a deep satisfaction from seeing ?the museum come alive.? ?Hindi lang still life [Not just still life],? he quipped.

Organizer Padmapani Perez, president of the Baguio Writers Group, said: ??I felt gratified so many times. I literally felt thrilled by what people were saying, and by the exchange of ideas.?

Perez said the group initiated the workshop ?as part of our raison d?etre, which is to celebrate Cordilleran literature and to nurture the souls of Cordilleran writers.?

That they certainly did. This year?s writing fellows, Freda Dao-ines and Abigail Torreliza, were huddled together discussing what they had gotten out of the workshop.

?The lectures opened my mind and educated me,? shared Dao-ines, a Nursing graduate of Benguet State University.

?I learned you have to have knowledge about what you write,? said Torreliza, who is taking a break from teaching literature at University of Baguio.

?Lito emphasized the connection between literature and art,? said Carmen Perez, who traveled from Manila for the workshop. ?I really enjoyed that.?

?This gave me inspiration to venture into a new field of writing,? declared silver crafts shop-owner Luchi Maranan.

?For me, it?s seeing and experiencing what?s in the gap between the critic, the artist and his work,? said Dinggot Conde Prieto, owner of gallery Kamarikutan in Puerto Princesa. ?As a gallery-owner, it validated a lot of what I do.?

We laughed and chatted over ?ginataan? and basked in the golden light of the afternoon sun. Some stayed on to hike with Bencab to a nearby waterfall. But even after that invigorating hike, we lingered, reluctant for the day, and this delicious, art-filled weekend to end.