New Kwago opens with a 24-hour-only exhibition

In collaboration with Purveyr, Kwago is launching a bookstore and publishing lab in Bangkal, Makati. The opening of the new space will be celebrated over the course of 24 hours: from Saturday, February 29, 1pm to Sunday, March 1, 1pm. And a vital component of the gathering is an exhibition that only lasts for one day.

Comma, Kwago’s publishing and curatorial platform, organizes an open call exhibition speculating on the current socio-political climate we’re in and its effect on our day-to-day living. The show only runs for one day—an invitation to problematize our use of and relationship to time.

“It’s very interesting how technologies are changing our concept of time. Before, we don’t really say ‘real-time,’ but because of apps that allow you to do live streaming, it has become part of the everyday vernacular. We wish to tackle these evolving ideas of time, how it creates new models of communications, human relationships and modes of thinking and expressions. Time is so important. It’s essentially what life is made of,” exhibition co-curator and Kwago founder Czyka said.

Our city never sleeps. The noise. The traffic. Its arteries jammed up. Jeepney drivers and buskers with their DIY drums. BPO hustlers getting drunk to be comfortably numb. Living from paycheck to paycheck. No time to cook, depending on fast-food. Vandalism. Cops. Sirens. Shabu-sniffing junkies. Deplorables. Unwanted pregnancies. Rape. HIV. Bullets. Gunshots. Blood. Uncounted. Orphans. Online surveillance. Cyberbullying. And self-censorship. You and I, we are the city, from dusk till dawn, 24/7.

Where is Kwago

“Where will our bodies go after we clock out? Where do we go? How do we make our way home? How to rest? How can we take a time-out from time? Can some of us bend time at will? What imprints does time leave on our bodies? Is the city’s clock unrelenting time?” co-curator and Kwago co-owner Roy Voragen said.

Initiated and co-curated by Czyka Tumaliuan and Roy Voragen, the exhibition seeks for everyone to meditate on time that is currently being reconstructed by technologies such as digital apps, facial scanning and geo-tracking in real time.

The curatorial process is democratic—anyone can apply! This allows a diverse range of voices to join the exhibition. We encourage different forms of art – comics, zines, collages, dance, sculptures, installations, artist book and new media. For example, Carlo Paulo Pacolor will direct a play in the exhibition space and Alfred Marasigan will do a performance via a live video feed from London.