September in the Philippines can be politically contentious largely due to former President Ferdinand Marcos’s declaration of Martial law on September 21. And this turmoil was reflected in many of the art exhibits BluPrint covered for the month. But for this round-up of art exhibits in September, BluPrint highlights artworks that explore the artists’ inner […]
ICanServe Foundation Opens The Pink Room: Gallery for Good
You can now visit The Pink Room: Gallery for Good at Level 2, The Britanny Hotel, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig from September 4 to 14, 2024. This exhibit, curated by designer Carol Karthe, showcases 27 pairs of Nike Air Force 1 Triple White sneakers designed by Filipino artists. It is an initiative by breast cancer awareness advocacy group ICanServe Foundation to mark the organization’s 25th year anniversary.
Don’t miss the auction on September 14, 6 pm, at the same venue, where you can grab the opportunity to take home a pair of sneakers while contributing to a good cause. Meanwhile, two pairs will be raffled.
“The proceeds of this auction will go to the ICanServe programs,” shared Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala, founding president of ICanServe Foundation and a breast cancer survivor herself. “We’re going to use the proceeds to train more healthcare workers on early detection, early diagnosis, cancer care management, patient navigation, survivorship care, and supportive care. We also fund treatments and procedures of breast cancer patients. And we also do a lot of capacity building for patient leaders.”
A Simple Gathering-Turned-Advocacy
For Crisann Celdran, chairman and co-founder of ICanServe Foundation, the organization’s 25th year is a personal milestone, as she also celebrates her 25th year of being a cancer survivor.
“I thought I was going to die 25 years ago and then I woke up a year ago. The world has changed. And then, same with the foundation. We started out as a group of four cancer survivors and we were just determined that we didn’t want anybody to be in the dark,” Celdran shared.
Alikpala narrated that back then, they were just a group of four “having merienda and lunch for the newly diagnosed, counseling them, we would visit public hospitals, and go wherever people wanted us to go.”
She added, “But many years later, we figured out, we were hearing the same problems and figured out the gaps in cancer care, and we said we have to be part of the solution this time. And so we kind of formalized, we became a foundation.”
In the past 25 years, ICanServe Foundation has partnered with local governments to institutionalize breast cancer control programs. “What’s a breast cancer control program? It’s just really making sure that we save more lives, we bring the death rate down by way of promoting prevention measures, we promote early detection, we give access to treatment, to early and accurate diagnosis, survivorship care, supportive care, patient navigation,” Alikpala explained.
ICanServe Foundation also helped lobby the passage of the National Integrated Cancer Control Act in 2019.
“I think we’ve helped about 300,000 women in the last 25 years, indirectly and directly through forums, screening, helping them through treatment, navigating through capacity building workshops,” Alikpala added.
A Fun and Meaningful Exhibit
Celdran said she and her team came up with The Pink Room concept to reach a wider audience, as it attracts young kids who are sneaker enthusiasts. This way, more people of different ages get to participate in the conversation about breast cancer awareness.
Holding an exhibit featuring sneaker designs by Filipino artists is also an exciting way to celebrate this milestone. Alikpala added, “Breast cancer is not a sexy topic. Nobody wants to talk about it. You associate it with death and sadness. So we always think of events and activities to soften the topic, to make it more palatable, to raise more awareness, more funding, and just to raise the fun level.”
“Solemates” by National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera
Each pair of sneakers on display shows the artist’s unique interpretation, like National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera’s sneaker design, titled “Solemates,” that shows a man’s and a woman’s face on each pair. Meanwhile, artist Toym Imao’s design, titled “Bakunawa at Sarimanok,” is a medley of vibrant colors on sneakers sitting on a brass sculpture.
There’s also Carlo Calma’s work, titled “Exoskeleton,” with the sneakers encased in wood. He explained that the wood lattice acts as a “protective covering” that symbolizes an armor against cancer.
Alikpala described all 27 designs as mind-blowing. “I think what was so touching was they poured their heart and soul into it because almost all of them have a connection to cancer. That’s how prevalent it is. So a lot of them are doing this to pay tribute to the loved one they lost or a loved one who’s still battling cancer or one who actually survived it,” she added.
Community Involvement
The Pink Room: Gallery for Good exhibit is a spectacle for everyone to enjoy, just like how breast cancer awareness is a topic that everyone should care about.
Designer Carol Karthe, who curated the exhibit attended the preview night of The Pink Room: Gallery for Good. Also in attendance were The Pink Room artists like Ciane Xavier, Lilianna Manahan, and Christina Dy; architects Jason and Nikki Buensalido; and art curators Miguel Rosales and Glenn Cuevo.
Celdran shares that in the future, she wants to “come in stronger. We believe that it’s important to spend on patients, on patient navigation, on cancer control programs, on working with cities to be able to do this because we can’t be patient-centered anymore.”
She also added, “Everybody needs to bring the family in, bring the city in. We want to bring the whole community [together].”
Read more: Witness Creativity, Altruism, and Hope at ICanServe’s “The Pink Room”
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