The idea of home extends beyond the walls of the house. It also considers the spaces and environments people share—the larger setting that supports everyday life. At Yume at Riverpark, these considerations begin with individual homes and lots, extend to the shared landscape of an 18-hectare residential development in General Trias, Cavite, and ultimately connect […]
‘Lungsod na Walang Liwanag’: Documenting Poverty in the City
Lungsod na Walang Liwanag is the new exhibit by visual artist Reymark Umpacan. Exhibited at NO Community-run Space at Teacher’s Village, Umpacan’s works revolve around the idea of how people in cities evolve to address poverty.
Specifically, it takes a critical stance on the government’s hands-off approach that forces people to look for other ways to cope with their situations. In Nica B.’s write-up for the exhibit, she exemplifies these traits within the exhibition’s featured works.
“Mas lubos na nasasadlak sa kahirapan ang mga Pilipino, dahil sa kawalan ng nakakabuhay na trabaho at maayos na tahanan, at dahil sa iba’t ibang suliraning panlipunan.” she wrote.
[More Filipinos fall into deep misfortune due to the lack of livable jobs and homes, and other problems inherent in society.]
How We Portray Poverty
Umpacan’s works present Manila in stark terms, effectively photographing at street level away from the monuments and skyscrapers to see how the people on the ground exist.
Some photographs show the co-existence of its denizens with the grime of the streets, as in “Pareho ngunit magkasalungat,” where residents and tricycles seem to walk around a small pile of garbage in the middle of the road.
Many photographs here highlight the daily grind of working-class individuals. The best of these, “Hindi mo kasalanan,” shows a pedicab driver with a tired, frustrated look on their face. The derelict pedicab has scribblings on the front, while an umbrella works as a makeshift roof for the driver. It perfectly encapsulates their existence in the periphery, and the lack of help that they get from either the moneyed class or the government.
Others, like “Malapit lang pero ang layo pa,” shows children on a ramshackle boat staring at three high-rises in the distance, portraying class and income inequality with blunt imagery. It’s.
The image effectively gives a visual shorthand to the poverty that inherently exists in our system: most people in this country will never have enough money to live in those high-rises as they toil day to day to survive.
Religious Fervor as an Escape
Other photos in Umpacan’s collection illustrate the old “religion as the opiate of the masses” quote in action. Whether it’s photographs of devotees struggling for the rope, or a whole wall peppered with images of Jesus Christ, the photographs are explicit in how they showcase the desperation of the poor to escape their situation through prayer and miracles.
The write-up pushes that assertion forward, that many people find healing in religion when the government has done little to help them out. “Ilan lamang ito sa mga dahilan kung bakit hindi maitatanggi kung bakit karamihan ay kumakapit sa pananampalataya. Dahil ang manalig ay pagbibigay ng pag-asa sa mga panahon na hindi naayon sa kanila ang buhay.”
[This is one of the many reasons why many find themselves grasping towards their faith. Because their faith gives them a period of hope that doesn’t correspond with their life.]
Realities of Poverty
Fiction tends to show poor people in crisis as they attempt to find a way out of their situation. But this exhibit shows a bleaker view of poverty: there’s no hope, only the everyday grind to survive.
It’s people ignoring the trash in the street because nobody in the government is using their funds to move the needle forward. Or people having to use temporary parts for their work vehicles to keep it working functionally. It’s the need to highlight the power of a miracle because only a miracle can get you out of your situation.
Lungsod na Walang Liwanag showcases the quiet desperation of people in poverty, and how they survive even as the world seems to ignore them further.
Related reading: ‘Alburoto’: Recontextualizing Labor Rights as a Women’s Issue
PSID presents “What the Pop!,” an exhibition opened on the third floor of V-Mall in Greenhills, San Juan City, that examined how popular culture shaped Filipino homes and lifestyles. Through spaces representing four generations—Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z—the exhibit explored how each era’s experiences inform its approach to interior designInterior DesignThe discipline […]
The CCP Main Theater as an Icon of Philippine Modernism The CCP main theater by National Artist for ArchitectureArchitectureThe art and science of designing and constructing buildings, structures, and spaces that are functional, safe, and aesthetically pleasing. It encompasses the planning, design, materials, and techniques used to createGo to Architecture Glossary Leandro V. Locsin is […]
As co-founder of Dubai- and Tokyo-based studio waiwai, Al Awar brings over 22 years of experience to questions surrounding how cities are designed and how architectureArchitectureThe art and science of designing and constructing buildings, structures, and spaces that are functional, safe, and aesthetically pleasing. It encompasses the planning, design, materials, and techniques used to createGo […]
The seventh edition of the Anthology ASEAN ArchitectureArchitectureThe art and science of designing and constructing buildings, structures, and spaces that are functional, safe, and aesthetically pleasing. It encompasses the planning, design, materials, and techniques used to createGo to Architecture Glossary Festival brought together over 4,000 delegates from across the Philippines and Southeast Asia for three […]
Bigkis is the act of binding. In Tagalog, the word can refer to something used to bind or encircle, as well as a bundle formed by tying several separate elements together. Figuratively, it can also mean a bond, union, or unity. The meanings move from the physical act of joining things together to the connection […]
Read the issues.
Collect the volumes.
Recommended Video
Tap to Unmute
Unmute
0:00
0:00