One day in March, I crossed from Panay to Negros Island with a friend, intending a short visit to Bacolod City to explore a bit more of this neighboring — and larger — province where Hiligaynon is also spoken. 

As with all unplanned trips, we go where the music takes us, and by a wonderful twist, a day trip to Sagay, some 80 kms from Bacolod was arranged. Here the artist Nunelucio “Nune” Alvarado has managed to inspire and help create a community that without doubt must be the most colorful and artistic in the country. Nune was born and grew up in Fabrica, a town of Sagay. A journalist friend, Allen, knew Nune personally and was with us during the visit.

The country’s most colorful and artistic barangay 

Purok Bougainvillea in Barangay Old Sagay is right along the scenic Margaha beach. You are welcomed by a sign, “Welcome to our community of colors,” and a barrage of bougainvillea blooms. Unconsciously, you simply slow down and meander along the barangay road that snakes behind several resorts, as colorfully painted gates, fences, frontages, and walls of houses and sari-sari stores come into view.  It seems like you have stepped into a different world, one unlike the brown, windy drabness of seaside towns.  

It wasn’t always like this, though. According to Sally, Nune’s wife, they first came back in 2005, visiting regularly from Bacolod, and eventually moved to the purok in 2016. Both Nune and Sally are active campaigners for social justice, the arts, and the environment. The barangay was part of a marine reserve, and there was initial hostility from other residents who felt they were preaching and hectoring with their beach clean-ups. They were simply doing what they felt was right as part of a responsible and caring community. 

Nune set up a studio beachside, organized a “Pintor Kulapol” (Lousy Painter) group, and involved youth in the arts, holding various workshops for young people on painting, drawing, and printmaking. Exhibitions were organized. Bit by bit the community came together, and the colors erupted, with a “Pinta Balay” initiative. This was heartily supported by local government, private citizens, and volunteers. Barangay youth and trisikad drivers were trained to become volunteer guides and stewards.  The internationally known Alvarado name helped – Nune has represented the country in numerous exhibitions, and several museums in Asia have his work. Foreign volunteers and artists visited, some staying for weeks to help, volunteer, or do residencies. Award-winning artists like Charlie Co also painted murals along Margaha.

The Alvarado studio is on the second floor of a nipa and bamboo building that’s chockfull of art pieces, works in progress, and memorabilia from Nune’s many exhibitions. It screams, “An artist lives here!” Strewn around are sketches, pens, brushes, watercolors, magazines, exhibition programs, seashells, wine bottles, and stones painted with faces.

Though he had a stroke a few years ago and early signs of Parkinson’s have manifested, Nune at 73 is still by turns biting, satirical, and witty, arguing and laughing with us while tracing lines on cardboard with a pen and ruler. We spent almost three hours chatting and enjoying a delicious lunch with scallops, pinangat, and adobong pusit, amidst the sound of the surf and a panoramic view from his balcony. 

There was a striking installation on the beach – seven totem-like poles representing the seven forms of art (Painting, Sculpture, Literature, Architecture, Theater, Film, and Music. It was a clear and windy day and the clouds frolicked above, tracing shadows on the beach, as children swam and ran about. The island barangay of Suyoc could be seen across the port. Suyoc is the setting for the Anton Juan film, Ang Amon Banwa sa Lawod, a meditative, dream-like, yet gripping film telling the stories of people and souls inhabiting the island, its script loosely based on the Thornton Wilder classic, Our Town. By coincidence I managed to catch an early release of the film at the Iloilo cinematheque a couple of weeks prior to the trip, but never expected that I’d see the island itself. 

I toured the galleries and workshop areas and joined a trisikad tour of the barangay, guided ably by an Alvarado nephew with the unusual name of Yqfryd. We had iced coffee at the Café Albarako, owned by the couple. Many of the works in the galleries are influenced by Nune’s characteristic styles, social consciousness, and use of angular lines and lush colors. A film festival, the Margaha, has been held three times, to encourage budding filmmakers from Sagay and help them hone their craft. Several young directors have won awards and have had their films included in festivals in Manila. During World Tourism Day, a tribute to Nune was organized by the city and a mural was unveiled.

There was more to see and appreciate. The Negros Children’s Museum, a hands-on and interactive museum focused on the marine environment and conservation education, is nearby, but was closed for the weekend. Then, there is Suyoc Island with its mangrove preserves to explore. Sagay beckons for an immersive art experience.

The Bacolod Art District – a feast for the senses

In Bacolod, a must-visit for admirers of contemporary visual art is the 8,000-square meter sprawl that is the Bacolod Art District (BAD), located beside Lopue’s Mandalagan. Bubbly tour guide and old friend Virna Ascalon Tan took us there for a reunion with her brother, Dennis, one of the movers and shakers in the contemporary arts scene in Region VI. He is also a co-founder of the Black Artists in Asia, with Nune, Charlie Co, and Norberto “Peewee” Roldan. We visited when dusk was settling in, and I was so fascinated by the works and the galleries – a surprise at every corner – that I had to go back the next morning to make sure I didn’t miss any of the artwork. Unlike artificially-lit indoor art housed in a gallery, outdoor artworks and installations call out to be seen during different times of the day or night.  

At the heart of the BAD is the Orange Gallery and sculpture garden. The minimalist-style gallery has a mezzanine that appears to float. It has about 1,500 square meters for indoor display space, with a sculpture garden beside it. You immediately get the feeling it is there to host the artworks, allowing for maximum visibility and appreciation. There are several other smaller galleries in the complex, but they were closed in the morning. A mini theater not much bigger than a container van has on its walls a series of amusing cartoons paying homage to Peque Gallaga, a series entitled Little Peque Makes a Movie. That would have drawn guffaws out from the late director, one of the best the country has had.  

All the bare surfaces in the BAD complex – interior walls, stairwells, connecting alleys, as well as restrooms are painted with murals of differing styles, or mounted with seemingly flying installations like carabaos, horses, dragons, demon-like creatures, and astronauts jutting out from the edges of walls.  Even a wall full of working contadors (electric meters) seems to have been done as an installation. From the fantastical and absurd, to those with a social commentary, it is an amazing mélange that recalls “The Factory” in Phnom Penh. 

It’s the installations and mixed media sculptures that are fascinating; old model vehicles have been pimped up and become art pieces; benches and swings for the children are artfully designed and arranged; and various sculptures, whether in concrete, plaster, or scrap metal beckon one for a selfie, a closer look, or a view from a different angle – the works are simply that engaging. One can also enjoy a meal (cheap turo-turo places abound in the area, a favorite for employees working both day and night shifts) or have a coffee at one of the funky coffee places around.  

The original gallery was first set up in 2005. There have been several alterations to the complex over the years, and the current layout has been in place since 2018. Most of the works – two thirds of those currently seen – were done only during the COVID-19 pandemic, as artists struggled, and somehow it gave even greater impetus to create. 

The whole BAD and local arts community are extremely lucky and blessed to have artist-entrepreneurs and business partners Charlie Co and Victor Benjamin Lopue III. Their shared vision and imagination, creativity, and concern for younger artists over the decades has led to the blossoming of arts consciousness in Negros and in the whole of Region VI. As the website for the Orange Project aptly puts it, “It is art with no fear. And fun.“ – Rappler.com

Vic Salas is a physician and public health specialist by training, and now retired from international consulting work. He is back in Iloilo City, where he spent his first quarter century.