On Creativity and Freedom

Although the tradition of painting has been with man for more than a thousand years, it is only in the past few decades that there is an upsurge of popular interest in art in our country. And it is only in the past few years that popular interest in art have reached our own community here in Davao. Nevertheless, remote though our city may seem to be from the epicenter of progressive events, we artists manage to uphold this great tradition and continue to delve into this universal form of expression handed down to us by our conquistadores of centuries past.

This series of lectures is the kind of program much needed in our community. We need it to develop an understanding, a clear understanding of art in our country and specifically here in Davao.

Today more and more paintings, original paintings are found in an ever-increasing number of homes. On the other hand, there is also a profusion of commercialism and faddism going the rounds. And still at one end is the threatening possibility of legislating the kind of art we have to paint.  This last statement is what bothers me and it brings to mind the time the late H.R. Ocampo reacted strongly over this possibility and he confided to me in one of his last Saturday Group sessions at Taza de Oro in Manila that there is no such thing as legislating the creative process of any artist, even Filipinos.

To legislate indeed means to control and restrict, and for the artist, he needs a vast amount of creative freedom to bring about his thoughts and feelings into existence. The concept of legislation probably stems from the anxiety over some high government officials to create a Filipino identity in Art.