Art as tribute for the nation’s workforce

Monuments celebrate the life of heroes, prominent figures in history, or to commemorate a significant event in history.

This weekend, before the country observes Labor Day, we looked at the different public art installations that feature ordinary Filipinos and which celebrate those who have contributed to the nation’s progress.

“Pasasalamat”

by Ferdinand Cacnio

Located between Rizal Drive and 3rd Ave. in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Ferdinand

Cacnio’s “Pasasalamat” features two fishermen standing on a bangka and looking up towards the sky while holding a net with the day’s catch.

It was a feeling of gratefulness which prodded Cacnio to come up with “Pasasalamat.”

“Pasasalamat” by Ferdinand Cacnio shows two fishermen who seemed to be showing gratitude to the Heavens for the day’s catch.

At that time, the sculptor just did a risky shift: from being a graphic design businessman to a professional artist.  He pushed on, despite opposition from his siblings, “to know, for myself, if I had enough talent.” He then took advantage of his background in civil engineering to bring his artistic visions to life.

Cacnio was commissioned by the Bonifacio Art Foundation, Inc. (BAFI) to create the sculpture in 2006, after BAFI moved Gerry Leonardo’s “Balanghai” to a different location and the sculpture’s hull was left behind.

“I came up with a 10-ft tall metal sculpture of two human figures who take a moment to hold up their fishing net, heavy with a bountiful harvest, to solemnly thank our Almighty God for his blessings and to surrender everything back to Him,” Cacnio explained in an interview.

The sculptor has two more artworks, which he hopes would be turned into public art.

“I’d like to enlarge my ‘Great Heights Together’ and my ‘Bayanihan Para Sa Perlas Ng Silangan.’ I’m still hopefully waiting. For now, I can only fund small sculptures myself and hope that in time, they will become public art,” Cacnio further shared.

“Talking Heads”

by Jefre Manuel

Office workers and guests at Five E-com Center at the Mall of Asia (MOA) complex in Pasay are greeted by six giant transparent heads, each measuring six feet high and five feet wide and wearing headsets. One look at the sculptures and these would immediately remind you of call center employees.

Called “Talking Heads,” the acrylic sculptures hanging from the lobby’s ceiling are by Filipino-American international artist Jefre Manuel and was commissioned by SM Prime.

Jefre Manuel and his “Talking Heads”

“The inspiration came to me from the concept of the unknown workforce, an idea that came to me when I visited the building,” Manuel said in an interview.

Aside from its aesthetic purpose, “Talking Heads” also has a practical use.  Each head has a built-in speaker so that guests at Five E-com may step inside any of the heads to speak to customer service representatives from businesses located at the building.

Manuel has another art installation in the works “that’s a monument to the working class” and we can expect it to be another huge one.

“Mga Haligi ng Kaunlaran”

by A.G. Saño

On the concrete posts supporting the Edsa-Kalayaan-Buendia flyover used to be the portraits of various Filipinos, their jobs identifying them.

Commissioned by the MMDA in 2013, “Mga Haligi ng Kaunlaran” was spearheaded by muralist and environmentalist A.G. Saño.

The artist, together with some volunteers, worked on around 48 pillars for about a month, braving the scorching heat and pollution on the country’s busiest thoroughfare. “About half contained portraits of real people whom I have met in my journeys,” shared Saño. Not long after, everybody who traversed that part of Edsa were given a break from the bumper-to-bumper traffic and treated to colorful, larger than life paintings.

Today, the murals have been painted over to give way to new paintings but Saño’s tribute to the men and women who contributed to the country’s progress will never be forgotten.