Jimmie Durham on Santiago Bose

An excerpt from the artist Jimmie Durham’s work in This Long Century:

I’ve written a poem about the Filipino artist, Santiago Bosé who seemed irresistible to all women and wanted to love them all.

SANTIAGO BOSE’S POEM

Far in the (not really so cold!) north of Norway
But not yet Karasjok where I hope to go
Next year, I was not shocked but struck;

Surprised by a display of woodcut prints
By John Savio. “John?” I asked
Myself, “Why isn’t he called ‘Jan’ or ‘Johan’
Or even something close to the Cherokee
‘Tsani’?”

I want to ask Santiago Bosé.
In the whole world, not only the South Pacific,
There is no Santiago Bosé.
—

 Santiago Bose’s first exhibit at the University of the Philippines! Abababa!

For the commemoration of Santiago Bose’s 10^th year death anniversary, Can’t Go Back Home Again, Santiago Bose in the Family Collection brings out artworks, illustrated journals, footage of interviews, and documentation from the collection of Bose’s family. Some of the works and memorabilia included in this exhibit have never been seen by the public. Bose, known for his experimentation in various media, pioneered the use of local materials in his artworks. In the words of Alice Guillermo, “Santiago Bose has been called the Anting-anting Maker … His art practice is based on the assumption that the work is not a painted illusion on a surface, but a concrete substance that undergoes the hectic process of becoming a charged material sign capable of holding within itself the tensions of conflicting forces … Bose brings out these political tensions”. This is his first exhibition at the University of the Philippines where he took up Fine Arts.