Getting a breast cancer diagnosis may turn one’s world upside down. It often leads to a rough road ahead. But also on this road are stories of strength, courage, and hope that this diagnosis can be beaten and overcome. With The Pink Room, an initiative by breast cancer awareness advocacy group ICanServe Foundation, this message rings loud and clear.
For the past 25 years, ICanServe Foundation has been promoting early detection and timely access to proper treatment. To celebrate its silver year, the non-profit organization is launching The Pink Room, an exhibit featuring 27 pairs of Nike Air Force 1 (AF1) Triple White sneakers beautifully designed by Filipino artists.
The Pink Room exhibit will be open to the public on September 1 and 2 at The Estate Makati Lounge, SMX Aura Hall 3, Taguig. Then, the exhibit will move to the adjacent Brittany Hotel and will continue from September 4 to 14. On its last day, the shoes on display will be auctioned off, while two pairs will be raffled.
“The Pink Room was conceptualized to be really called the Gallery for Good. And the Pink Room was named such because pink represents the battle against breast cancer. So worldwide, we know that the pink ribbon always represented that cause,” explained Carmina Sanchez-Jacob, president of FashX, a fashion trade organization working with ICanServe Foundation for this advocacy.
Proceeds from the auction will benefit the ICanServe Foundation and some of the artists involved in the project. Designer Carol Karthe will curate the space, while Endo Lighting will enhance the shoes on display.
“It’s a shared effort between the artists and the ICanServe Foundation, and for ICanServe, it goes without saying that whatever money is raised goes to continue the work that they’ve been doing for the last 25 years in support of breast cancer awareness in the country,” said Sanchez-Jacob of The Pink Room.
National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera leads the roster of Pink Room Artists, which also includes Gus Albor, Arce, Max Balatbat, Plet Bolipata, Elmer Borlongan, Jinggoy Buensuceso, Carlo Calma, Katrina Cuenca, RM De Leon, Daniel dela Cruz, Monica Delgado, Tracie Anglo Dizon, Christina Dy, Emmanuel Garibay, Toym Imao, Jose Santos III, Pam Yan Santos, Gerry Tan, Carlo Tanseco, Vien Valencia, Lydia Velasco, Ronald Ventura, Melissa Yeung Yap, and MM Yu. The shoes they designed will be for auction.
Meanwhile, artists Ciane Xavier and Lilianna Manahan donated the pairs they designed for the raffle.
“Two of the artists on the roster are breast cancer survivors themselves. Several are children of cancer survivors. Several have told us that many of them have dear friends who are on a healing [from] cancer journey,” said Crisann Celdran, chairman of the board of ICanServe Foundation, during the Pink Room media briefing at The Estate Makati Lounge, SMX Aura Hall 3, Taguig. “And the connection to cancer makes their artistic contributions even more powerful, even more moving.”
Dancer and artist Christina Dy, who is also a breast cancer survivor herself, shared that the shoe she designed for the Pink Room is about hope. “I was so lost and depressed when I first got cancer. I mean, who wouldn’t, right?” she said.
Dy shared that taking cues from kintsugi, or the Japanese art of repairing and mending broken pottery with gold, helped her get through her cancer journey. “I actually was able to process my feelings then by making self-portraits with the kintsugi theme. So, I would draw my body with gold scars and flowers and butterflies coming out of my scar.”
This art form “gave me peace and hope that, you know, this is not the end. Good things will come out of this. And good things have come out of it. And I wanted to put that whole thing into the shoe,” Dy added.
To make her shoe design a representation of her journey, she made the Nike swoosh on the left shoe gold because her surgery scar was on her left breast.
Dy hopes that when people visit the Pink Room, they’ll see that they, in their own way, can do something for the good of all. “Even if they don’t buy the shoe or even if they don’t join the raffle, I think if we instill that inspiration and creativity with everyone who goes to see this exhibit, I think we would have done the world a good thing. But also I want people to know that they can use their talents to help a worthy cause—no matter what your talent is, no matter what the cause is, no matter how big,” Dy said.
Photography by Ed Simon
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