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This visit was a bit of a side quest, since I can't really say for certain my parents spent any time at this destination. Earlier this week, my studio assistant & I went on a little excursion to Pindangan Ruins. This is somewhere I'd always seen nearby in my Google Maps, but kept forgetting about it. My studio assistant & I recently went to a pasalubong (souvenir) shop at the San Fernando town plaza that gives out free travel guide booklets. I was reminded again of this destination when I was reading through this helpful travel guide! According to La Union Tayo!, Pindangan was the original name of the City of San Fernando. Pindangan is derived from the Ilokano word pindang, a method of sun-drying & salt preserving meat, referring to San Fernando as a destination heavy in this type of delicacy. Due to its close proximity to the sea, the original church was at constant risk of attacks from foreign invaders (ironic, since I would consider the Spanish foreign invaders themselves). Originally built by Spanish priests in 1764, the church was eventually moved to the town plaza after a couple of other previous relocations, & it is now known as the Cathedral Parish of Saint William the Hermit. However, the ruin site has a Carmelite monastery, which does have its own small church. While this visit isn't directly related to my family's history, it's still part of my study on contemporary San Fernando & integral to its timeline. Being an Ilokana in the Californian diaspora, I'm particularly interested in the parallels between Filipinos & California Natives. We share the same colonisers — both Spain & the so-called United States — & remnants of the Spanish colonial era still exist in both places. As some of you already know, I did a recent photo documentary series on the celebration of the Santo Niño in contemporary Philippines & the diaspora for my project Venerating an Icon, as part of my recent residency at the Minnesota Street Projects in San Francisco. This project is still in-progress, but I'm aiming to tie up loose ends before the end of this year! The project examined a centuries old Spanish icon that is still glorified throughout the islands & diaspora, & I was especially interested in its context within California, another former colony of Spain when it was part of what was known as New Spain. Without further adue, here are some photos from our outing to the Pindangan Ruins. All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens. View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge. 
 My studio assistant getting some practice with composition. :')
My fav easter egg I got to encounter during this visit was finding the kusikus pattern on the door frame of this small chapel (I'm assuming that's what the structure was). The kusikus is very Ilokano-specific & refers to whirlwind patterns found on abel ules, or woven inabel blankets. The kusikus comes in many variations, but this is probably the most popular version of it. Woven on blankets slept with at night, the pattern is intended to confuse & scare off bad spirits. Make sure to enlarge the images to check out that kusikus doorframe! Unfortunately, that was as close as I could get, as the property was fenced off & not accessible.   Some misc bougainvillea compositions. I love the dual juxtapositions of organic & colorful with grey distressed manmade structure. I also recently found out that bougainvillea is the official provincial flower of La Union. I learnt this through the travel guide booklet I picked up at the pasalubong shop, haha.   Being that it is Semana Santa here in the Philippines, you will usually find images of Jesus & crucifixes covered in purple veils. Starting during the Passiontide, or the last two weeks of Lent, they cover Jesus to observe the last days of his life up until his resurrection on Easter, when he is then unveiled. In the Philippines, his unveiling is considered a way of celebrating his resurrection & Easter. The veil is purple to represent royalty, reminding believers that "Christ is King". Just a friendly reminder that I don't believe in any of this shit, LOL. I just find it interesting, so don't come at me!
More blog posts on the work I've been producing during my residency will be published in the coming weeks! Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my posts. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.
If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.
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 Another piece where the scan does the colors no justice!
This untitled multimedia piece, consisting of goache on a digital photo print, is a collaboration between me & fellow Filipina-American artist, Vanessa Briones. Vanessa & I have been good friends & collaborators for the last 7 years, & I felt so lucky I got to spend a lot of quality time with her again during my recent residency in San Francisco. It was nice to co-work adjacent to her at my SF studio space! This idea, where I ask other artists to paint their vision in their style over my photo prints, is something I've thought of doing for years. Not only did I get to spend more than one day with Vanessa, I am honored she got to be the first to attempt this experimentation with me. The photo is of Namacpacan Church in Luna, La Union, which you can read about its lore & history in my blog post Return Call Part 3. This collaborative idea is something I hope I can develop into a series & get more artists involved in. Leave a comment or hit up my email if you're interested in attempting this with me! Going a bit out of sequence because I have so many photos to sort through from Cebu still... So here are some pics to my quick visit to Luna, La Union. About 6 years ago, I visited the town of Luna (formerly known as Namacpacan) & the Namacpacan Church (AKA the Santa Catalina de Alejandria Church) for the first time. The church was built in the late 1600s. What is special about this church? This church houses the largest image of the Mama Mary/Apo Baket in the whole Philippines, & found its way to Luna in the 1800s. She was originally ordered from Spain & was intended to be delivered to Vigan, Ilokos Sur via a galleon ship coming from Mexico. Due to a heavy storm that caused difficulty in transportation, Our Lady of Namacpacan found her way to Luna & this was perceived as her communicating that she wanted to live in Luna. Here are some photos I created with my Nikon ZF using a 24-70mm lens (I always forget to mention what lens I'm using – it's the only lens I brought with me, haha), imported to my iPhone using the Nikon SnapBridge app & lightly edited through my photos app. The good thing about this visit is, last time I didn't get to explore the compound, so there are new places I got to experience at this place. View from a computer for the full experience. Click an image to enlarge.
 I don't know, but they seem to love their dead Jesuses inside of clear glass coffins. This is the third one I've seen since I've been here!    After hitting up the religious gift shop, the lady working there told us there was a special room filled with displays of all the dresses they put on the Apo Baket. It was like walking into a mini gallery. Each dress in itself was a handmade work of art! Aside from the 6'4 Apo Baket herself, this was my favorite feature of the church compound!
Look at it closely: Mama Mary's metal studded punk cape! Hands down my fav outfit of her's.
 Lastly, got to visit some old Spanish ruins around the church compound that I didn't even know were there. Pretty cool stuff, but a bit dangerous with uneven grounds & broken stairs.     Church exterior. There is a local belief that those that travel to visit the Apo Baket to pray to her will have their prayers answered. Back in 2018 is when I paid my first visit to the church & offered my first prayer to her. My prayer hasn't been answered yet, but I don't know if it will ever come true. You kind of have to believe, no?
This church was declared a national cultural treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines. I'm actually surprised that with the lore of the Apo Baket, there aren't more tourists. Barely any, actually. If more people knew about this cultural landmark, whether they're religious or not, I feel that there would be more visitors, naturally. If you're like me & enjoy collecting religious art, don't forget to stop by their gift shop! Pay this spot a visit during your travels through La Union. You can also stop by to have food by the stone beach, visit the Kamay na Bato gallery or Bahay na Bato. There's some fun things to do in Luna! Feel free to leave a nice comment below & let me know what you think! |
NICA AQUINOIn this space I'll share digital previews of my film photography, updates on new artworks in progress, upcoming programs, inspiration & my other misc interests. Archives
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