Added Aug 3, 2006
“Tuslob-Buwa” is the name adopted by a group of four contemporary artists in Cebu namely Evan Bejec, Sio Montera, Jojo Sagayno, and Ritchie Quijano isn’t at all related or having to do with the etymologies of profound words in art glossaries. “Tuslob-Buwa” is more known to the population of the masses because it is a communal dining experience where many share a single viand. Partakers of the “Tuslob-Buwa” meal can be likened to those who witnessed and experienced the multiplication of loaves. “Tuslob-Buwa”, a poor man’s meal is an exotic gastronomic experience made of meat with a staple of rice. Specifically, the protein here is made either of pig’s brain, liver, and fat eaten with the local “puso” (hanging rice). The cheap meal is popular in the fish markets of Pasil where everyone eats on a budget but most definitely getting a nutritious meal. To the four of us, “Tuslob-Buwa” is used as a metaphor to our beginnings as a dynamic group of young, brave, and stubborn souls out to make a stir. “Tuslob-Buwa” as a food simmers in a heated pan. With “Tuslob-Buwa Begins” the art show is a plan to create an alternative visual experience. It intends to break the monotony and homogeneity of the current art practice in Cebu. Paving a trail for new traditions, it also aims to destabilize the status quo by offering the public newer and contemporary forms of art. The more expressive art the group exposes isn’t always what it seems. There’s nothing you’ll see that’s exactly what one gets because of its minimal content and many allusions. As a group, the four artists having retained their artistic identities with each are pursuing a path of its own. Each was born as an artist and will die as an artist. In their working attitude, not one work escapes the process of conception thus each materialization is the product of commitment and dedication. Hence, they’re artist from womb to tomb. “Tuslob-Buwa Begins” is the closing salvo for the year 2005 and heralds the art world to a brand new age starting in 2006. “Tuslob-Buwa” continues in February 2007 with “LOVE THEORIES!