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Sharing more of the extended research & photography of my month long ARROZidency artist-in-residence. If you are just starting here, I recommend scrolling to the bottom to start at the beginning. View from a computer for the full experience! As another reminder, I've split up the work from my residency into 2 separate tags: For my main residency project only, visit: For the full extended roundup of my research during my residency, visit: A place I really wanted to visit during my time in the Bay was the San Francisco Mission, which I had just learnt was actually split into 2 different structures, including the Mission San Francicso de Asis & then Mission Dolores. For anyone new here, I'm not religious, Catholic or Christian. However, I am interested in the history of the California Missions, because I'm interested in the parallels between the Natives of so-called California & the Natives of the so-called Philippines. Strange, but one of my life goals is to someday visit all 21 California Missions. I've only visited 4. 😅 Anyways, as someone part of the Ilokano/Filipino-Californian diaspora, I'm interested in the parallels between our histories because we share the same colonisers — Spain & the so-called United States of America — with both still having a traumatic chokehold on our cultures. Whenever I visit a church in the Philippines, my first thought is, "This feels like I'm in California." And when I visit a church in California, I find myself thinking the reverse: "I feel like I'm in the Philippines." It's these feelings that lead me to believe that the Californian diasporic experience is particularly unique among Filipinos. [ For some quick comparisons, check out my more recent photos of the church in San Juan, La Union, where my father was baptised in the 1930s & where we had his mass before his internment; the Namacpacan church in Luna, La Union; & the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu, where I started my research for this residency. ] The Mission in San Francisco is the oldest structure in the city & it also houses the oldest & only cemetery within the city limits. This was particularly interesting for me, because while I haven't been to many CA Missions yet, this is the only one I've been to (so far?) with a cemetery. I'll share more history on the cemetery below. Starting with some exterior views of the Mission San Francisco de Asis, moving into the interior, to the cemetery, and to the interior of the Mission Dolores Basilica. Photographs were created with my Nikon ZF & a 24-70mm lens. Click any image below to enlarge. Mission San Francisco de Asis Exterior 
Mission San Francisco de Asis Interior
  St. Joseph's Altar (1810). Anonymous. wood, gold leaf, oil paint. Left to right: St. John of Capistrano, Saint Joseph, St. Bonaventure.
 St. Anthony's Altar (1810). Anonymous. wood, gold leaf, oil paint. Left to right: St. Pascual of Baylón, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Francis of Solano.    Reredos, Main Altar (1797). Anonymous. wood, gold leaf, oil paint. According to church signage: The reredos was crafted in Mexico and brought to the mission in 1797. Clockwise from top left: St. Francis of Assisi in ecstasy. St. Joachim, father of Mary. St. Michael the Archangel. St. Clare of Assisi, founder of the order known as the Poor Clares. St. Francis of Assisi with the stigmata. St. Anne, mother of Mary. Crucifix. Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. Tabernacle. After a quick search, I learnt that a reredos is a type of altarpiece. According to Britannica: altarpiece, work of art that decorates the space above and behind the altar in a Christian church. Painting, relief, and sculpture in the round have all been used in altarpieces, either alone or in combination. These artworks usually depict holy personages, saints, and biblical subjects. Several technical terms are associated with altarpieces. The predella is a low, decorated strip intended to raise the main part of the altarpiece to a height where it is readily visible from a distance. A diptych is an altarpiece consisting of two painted panels, a triptych has three panels, and a polyptych has four or more panels. A winged altarpiece is one equipped with movable wings that can be opened or closed over a fixed central part, thereby allowing various representations to be exposed to view. The term reredos is used for an ornamental screen or partition that is not directly attached to the altar table but is affixed to the wall behind it. The term retable simply refers to any ornamental panel behind an altar.
Ceiling. MISSION INNER-EXTERIOR + CEMETERY
Pictured right is the Mission museum, which houses a fair amount of Native crafts & artifacts from the Ohlone people. To be honest, I didn't want to take photos of any of it. 😕  Ceramic mosaic mural by San Francisco artist, Guillermo Granizo (1923-1996). According to Granizo, "In the garden of the mission is a mural of the Spanish Ship "San Carlos" that was sent by the Spaniards to the Pueblo San Francisco to sponsor and colonize the area." Mission Dolores CemeteryFor centuries, the Native Raymatush Ohlone inhabited the peninsula. Near the Mission was once the Chutchui village, where Franciscan monks later decided to build the Mission. While the church interiors were interesting to me, I was particularly drawn to the cemetery because it was my first time seeing one at one of the CA Missions. And it wasn't just interesting to me because I love gothic aesthetics! It actually has a disturbing & dark history (no pun intended). Interred at this cemetery are around 5,000 Native Ohlone people. Sources say that they supposedly died due to bad weather & diseases brought from Europe. Somehow, I have a feeling the "bad weather" reason is a crock of shit. We all know by now that genocide of Native people via disease & illnesses is nothing new, especially now as we are witnessing the genocide of the Palestinian people, whom the Israeli government has blocked from receiving life-saving COVID-19 vaccines. There's also no way I counted 5,000 headstones at this cemetery, so they were likely buried together in an unmarked mass grave. Like all the other CA Missions, this one was no different. It was built by the forced labor of CA Natives, who were called "Indios" & violently forced to convert to Catholicism & adopt a Spanish name — just like the Natives of the so-called Philippines.  Statue of St. Francis of Assisi.
What I find particularly resonant is the work of Ohlone descendants to honor their ancestors, who were wrongfully killed by Spanish colonisers on this property and buried here. In 2001, members of their community built this Ohlone tule hut as a lasting memorial to them.
I hope one day this statue of Junipero Serra is toppled, too. 😤
Also at this cemetery is a statue of Kateri Tekakwitha, who apparently was a Native Mohawk woman from New York who converted to Catholicism & later became a saint. Beneath her statue reads "In prayerful memory of our faithful Indians." Some believe she was placed in the cemetery to ease animosity between the Natives & the Mission, & to serve as a marker for those unnamed.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find who this statue is of. 😅 If you happen to know, please feel free to drop a comment! I did love the juxtaposition of the statue with the green & the orange cone, so I decided to keep these in color.  Mission Dolores BasilicaWhile the Mission San Francisco de Asis was founded in 1776 (technically JUST before the United States was established as a country!), the Mission Dolores Basilica was built 100 years after in 1876. I don't know what more to say about this basilica, other than the fact that it reminds me of churches in the Philippines. 😅 This was the last space I visited at the Mission site. I didn't get any photos of the ceiling mural, but make sure to look up if you visit. While the small Mission church certainly had its own charm, the basically was epic in comparison.
 
 
Additional photos & research from the rest of my residency are forthcoming & will be tagged under ARROZidency.
Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, subscribe to my YouTube channel, or subscribe to my newsletter for updates on my blog posts, projects, or upcoming programs. 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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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. Going a bit out of sequence from my recent trip to the Philippines, here are some photos from a short trip my mom & I took to Cebu together. Part exploration & holiday, part study & research for an upcoming artist residency, where I am studying the origins of the Santo Niño & its context in contemporary Philippines & the diaspora. Some photos are not related to the research at all, but included are digital compositions from additional explorations around Cebu City. Fair warning, some photos are not good at all... Haha, but are more intended just for documenting purposes. All photos are from my Nikon ZF using a 24-70mm lens. I was able to sort through the photos properly through my desktop this time & edit them through Adobe Lightroom. However, for previous photos, I used the Nikon SnapBridge app through my iPhone, which I highly recommend if you're on the go & just want to get some snaps off your Nikon really quickly. Click an image below to enlarge. View from a computer for the full experience. Comments are welcome! :) Journey to Clark International AirportThe only way to get to Cebu from San Juan, La Union was to fly, since it is another island quite far away. My mom & I decided to fly out of Clark International Airport in Pampanga instead of taking the bus 6-8 hours to Manila & flying out of there. Neither of us had ever been to Clark before. After some research & confirmation from the bus company, we learnt you take the Bataan Transit bus out of San Fernando (the neighboring town) to Dau bus terminal in Pampanga, then either catch a short shuttle bus or taxi to the airport from there. Altogether, the journey was about 4 hours (minimal traffic since we left San Juan at 2AM), & saved us a few hours compared to having to trek to Manila. Clark was a positive experience, which no one usually says about airports & flying, haha. There was no traffic outside, the airport architecture was spacious, & there were more food options compared to the airport in Manila. I look forward to flying into/out of Clark Airport on my next trip to the Philippines.
Loved the Mondrian-esque stained glass color scheme of this bus terminal & the vintage-looking buses.  I was enamored by Clark Airport's post-vaporwave liminal space waiting room. Have you ever seen an airport that looks like this? Sugbo SentroLocated near our hotel was Sugbo Sentro, an outdoor food court filled with local Cebuano cuisines. Throughout the food establishments, one can find small Santo Niño altars among the food displays, as well as dancing plastic bags — an innovative solution to keeping flies away from the food. If you are vegetarian/vegan, there are not a whole lot of options here for outside of juice, rice & salted duck eggs. Sorry! 😅 I recall the space being handicap accessible (correct me if I'm wrong), but I'm not sure about the toilets. As a general practice when traveling in the Philippines, be sure to always bring your own tissue, hankies & hand sanitiser, as many toilets are not equipped with tissue or hand soap. 🥴  A small local fruit stand situated just outside of the food court. Some of my fav fruits are lanzones (which I've only ever seen in the Philippines) & rambutan. I always make sure to have these fruits whenever I go home, because they're either not accessible in the US, or they're very expensive & bland.   Palm leaves woven into vessels used to steam rice. Woven palm leaves used to cook food can be found throughout the archipelago & other parts of Southeast Asia. 
  Small Santo Niño shrines & flying plastic bags found throughout the restaurants. Filipinos are truly the most resourceful. Jumalon Butterfly Sanctuary & Art GalleryThe Jumalon Butterfly Santuary & Art Gallery is a lesser-known attraction I found in my travel guide. Many of you who know me well know that I really love butterflies. Aesthetically they're beautiful, but I also love what they represent metaphorically. Transition, transformation, change, movement, migration, travel & sometimes return (depending on the type). If you love nature, science & art, I highly recommend visiting this space. There is a small entrance fee, but if you are in a position to donate more, please do as the sanctuary is completely sustained by the family & is not supported by any government funding. You can also support by letting more people know about the sanctuary. From what the remaining family members told us, they were getting so many more visitors, school & university tours prior to the pandemic. Like many small businesses & DIY spaces, the pandemic took a toll on their foot traffic. So if you happen to be in Cebu City, please make sure to pay this unique space a visit. Here are some photos from my Nikon ZF. Fair warning, not all are nice. I documented some just for the sake of documenting, so please don't come at me in the comments with mean banter. Be nice to me. 🥹 
A few misc compositions of the garden spaces of the sanctuary. Not pictured are the fluttering butterflies that could be spotted throughout. It was a bit difficult for me to photograph them. 😅 But also, I kind of didn't want to? Sometimes it's nice to just be in the moment without holding up a camera to everything. I noticed when juxtaposing these 4 images together, they kind of have similar compositions. What do you think?  DIY display timeline on the life of Julian N. Jumalon.  Mosaic painting by Julian N. Jumalon, made with broken butterfly wings.
 Julian N. Jamalon was not only an avid butterfly enthusiast, but he was also an artist & some would even say a scientist. We were told he'd been collecting butterflies since he was a child. As an adult, he was the first artist to create mosaic paintings out of broken butterfly wings, which he'd spent time collecting over many years. Not pictured, we also got a tour of his private art studio & study, which contained many of his original sketches, small watercolor paintings & research. Something about looking into a dead man's private life was eerie, but also beautiful & special. Not formally trained as a biologist, he was also a scientist, being the first to study Native butterflies of the Philippines. He traveled throughout the Philippines, Southeast Asia & other parts of the world collecting & studying butterflies, moths & other insects. Side note: Turns out it's really difficult to photograph objects behind glass! Or, maybe I'm just not doing it properly? If any other photographers have tips, please let me know what you've got. I'm still learning a lot of new things since picking up digital photography.
A few outdoor butterfly sculpture displays.   Spiraling DIY display of cocoons held together with binder clips.
Here's some photos of the interior gallery displays. Small, intimate, & situated on the ground level of the family's home, this gallery was like stepping into a time capsule of someone's personal life. Filled with dozens of insects, this gallery also displayed plenty of misc bric-a-brac collected during Jumalon's travels over the decades. The best part of this gallery was its unpretentious & DIY nature. Everything had its own charm & personality, including the ceiling fan, old AC wall unit, cocoons inside of plastic food containers, & mismatched fabrics used to cover the displays. I hope if this collection is ever acquired by a museum, they display it exactly like this, because this is not only a collection of art & science, but it's a history of a multigenerational family's life, which is just as important & equally deserves to be preserved in the same caliber.
Last stop at the sanctuary was the art gallery (entrance pictured above), which housed all of Jumalon's award-winning original watercolor & mosaic paintings. Once inside, there is no photography allowed. I'm assuming due to fear of illegal reproductions, which is understandable. This means you'll have to visit in-person someday to see what the paintings look like! 😉 Carbon MarketNext, we visited a massive palengke (open-air public market), known as the Carbon Market. It is the oldest & biggest palengke in Cebu. It was so big, we did not get through the whole market. One, because it was so overwhelming & crowded. Two, because it was way too hot & the heat exhaustion was starting to kick in. 🥵 Dating back to the early 20th century, during the American colonial era of the Philippines, this palengke has everything from tropical fruits & veggies, street food, pasalubong (souvenirs), woven goods, flowers & more. My mom was taken aback by how much cheaper the fruit was compared to San Juan & brought back two giant bags of lanzones & rambutan. As you will see, I also came across a handful of small Santo Niño altars throughout the market. The parts along the roads can be handicap accessible. However, once you go inside, the walkways are so narrow & full of items, even a walking person can have difficulty getting through. Please practice caution & awareness when walking throughout the aisles.
 
    Misc ParadeMisc parade celebration we came across on our way to the basilica. I don't really know what it was for, haha. I am assuming it was a promotion for a local politician. 
Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de CebuThis was the main thing I wanted to go to Cebu for. I wanted to learn about the origins of the Santo Niño in the Philippines & go back to where it all started. It's quite a lot to explain & this post is already very long, but you can learn about the history on the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu official website. If you do plan to visit the basiilica, make sure to wear proper attire. It is a lot like the Vatican now: full of tourists & dress code rules. Make sure you wear a top with sleeves that does not expose your chest or back, wear close-toed shoes, & if you are wearing a dress, skirt or shorts, make sure they are well past your knees, including the backs of your knees when you bend over. They will not let you in otherwise! I thought my dress was long enough, but they saw the backs of my knees & did not let me enter. I ended up having to go to a shop nearby that sold long skirts. The funny thing was, they just started enforcing this new dress code maybe one or two days before we visited. There are loads of vendors outside the basilica selling prayer candles & other religious souvenirs. There could be a new market for the vendors to now sell long skirts & shirts. 😅 Lastly, please note that some parts of the basilica are not handicap accessible. 😔 
 
 
 
I think for me, speaking as a non-Catholic/Christian/religious person in-general, the coolest thing I got to see was the original image of the Santo Niño that first appeared in the Philippines as far back as the 16th century. Many make the pilgrimage to visit this Holy Child & sometimes queue up for several hours to quickly glance at it encased behind bulletproof glass. Me? I got lucky & only waited for 10 minutes, haha.
A bit difficult to photograph the interior of the cathedral, since visitors are not allowed to do photography past a certain point. I tried my best!
 
Magellan's Cross, found just outside of the basilica compound, symbolises the Spanish colonisation & Christianisation of the Philippines in 1521. 😮💨 The mural depicts the baptism of the former Cebu royalty to Catholicism.  Not actually at the Basilica, this was a small religious souvenir shop located just opposite. Here, I got to purchase my own mini Santo Niño made out of wood, as well as other religious goods. Mentioning again for clarity, I am not religious, & this is for research purposes only. El Fuerte de San Pedro & the National Museum of the Philippines — CebuEl Fuerte de San Pedro (Fort San Pedro) is the oldest fort in the Philippines. This makes sense, since the first Spanish settlement was in Cebu. Sources online state that you can view original artworks & Spanish artifacts at the fort. This is no longer true, as they have been acquired by the National Museum. The museum is located just next door & you can easily walk on over to learn more about Cebuano & Bisayan history, both precolonial & colonial. Fort San Pedro is not handicap accessible. If I recall, the National Museum does have lifts & accessible toilets available.      
Right: Small Santo Niño sculpture displayed at the National Museum. Unfortunately, I do not know who the artist is! If you know who it is, please let me know & I can properly credit them. Thank You!That concludes this very long post & the Return Call blog series! If you made it this far & actually read everything — thank you! But if you just skimmed through the photos, I appreciate that, too. I know I could have easily broken up this post into multiple smaller posts, but it was important to me to keep each part of the trip together as their own mini-series within a series.
Coming soon: Hopefully some film photos! I sent about 28 rolls to the lab & have soooooo many to scan. Each roll is 36 exposures, so please be patient as I sort through them all. I'm excited to share I've upgrade my 10 year old scanner & have a shiny new scanner to work with that is much higher quality & should hopefully shave off a significant amount of editing time. I'm stoked to share the results with you all! I welcome any questions or dialogue in the comments below. Would love to know your thoughts on this post. 🖤 |
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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