TUPADA XING: SOCIAL CONTACT

TAMA ’07, the Tupada Action and Media Art Fourth International Action Art Event titled TUPADA XING: SOCIAL CONTACT begins on April 19, 2006, with an art forum, Action+Reaction=Interaction?, to be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Bulwagang Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino at two o’clock in the afternoon. Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez, curatorial consultant of the Lopez Memorial Museum and faculty member of the University of the Philippines Department of Art Studies will be joined by Seiji Shimoda, organizer of the Nippon International Performance Art Festival (NIPAF) from Japan, and Frankfurt-based artist Dirk Fleischmann, whose projects dwell on time-related processes as seen from a Western perspective. The discussion shall be concluded by an open forum.

Selected Tupada Xing performances by local and foreign artists will follow at six o’clock in the evening at the CCP’s Fourth Floor MKP Area as Tupada Xing:Social Contact, an exhibition of vestiges, documentation and miscellany from past events is unveiled at Atrium A and B by the selected performance artists namely Poklong Anading, Maki Calilung, Buddy Ching, Thom Daquioag, Boyet de Mesa, Mitch Garcia, Ian Madrigal, Marlon Magbanua, Kaye O’Yek, Pangasinan Artists’ Group, Sam Penaso, Arnel Ramiscal, Ronaldo Ruiz, Mannet Villariba and Jevijoe Vitug.

TAMA ‘07 then travels to the north for action art events at Vocas 5F La Azotea Building, Upper Session Road, Baguio City April 21 at 6 o’clock in the evening, and simultaneously at artist-selected public spaces in the City of Pines on April 22, from two to five o’clock in the afternoon. Viewing of video documentations of performances shall follow at six o’clock in the evening at Vocas.
Tupada started in 2002 with ambush performances by artists from diverse disciplines in various public spaces, exposing the masses to creative articulation where they themselves were located – on an overpass, in open parks, streets, cafes and alternative art spaces. It has since grown into an art collective organizing international performance events, creating connections with local and foreign artists in the spirit of meaningful cultural and information exchange, and melding concepts, directions and personalities together to create an independent ground for art expressing concerns. Tupada Xing is a coined pedestrian acronym that means Tupada Crossing, with emphasis on the heterogeneously defined letter "X". Its impetus drives action to cross over the lines for social contact, engage the audience, blur the boundaries between art and reality, and break away from set conventions.

International performance artists YanXin Shao, Shengming Qing, Jian Wang (China), Bruno Mercet (France), Dirk Fleischmann (Germany), Siu Lan Ko (Hong Kong), Ronald Apriyan (Indonesia), Seiji Shimoda, Harumi Terao, Makoto Maruyama, Shinya Misawa, Yoshie Baba (Japan), Htien Lin (Myanmar), Lynn Lu, Natasha Wei, Juliana Yasin Angie Seah (Singapore), Chen Yiling (Taiwan) and Mariana Motuzas (Uruguay) have been invited to participate in this event, along with Filipino artists Jeff Carnay, Cesare Syjuco, Maxine Syjuco, Tengal, Gelo Suarez, Cos Zicarelli, at the CCP, with Baguio performances by Karlo Almonte, Rene Aquitaña, Ferdi Balanag, Sonny Balanag, Randy Bolaio, Donahue Calderon, Sherwin Carillo, Roen Capule, Rommel Espinosa, Kawayan de Guia, Christopher Gozum, Ferdi “Bong” Sanchez, Mark Tanduyog, Shanto Verdun, Bumbo Villanueva and others executing concurrent and spontaneous live art.

TUPADA XING: SOCIAL CONTACT is presented by the Japan Foundation and Cultural Center of the Philippines. For more details, please call 4286287, text 09155191902 / 09173850709, email tama@tupada.org or check out our official website www.tupada.org.