Taginting, A Resonant Community of Sound Practice (Dayang Yraola)

Sound practice is the term this project uses when invoking all those who participate in the production of experimental, electronic, noise music and sound art. These practitioners share the same spirit of experimentation in media and discipline. It is a sustained practice, while strangely in a constant state of flux. It is a perpetually emergent practice, ironically situated in a condition that favors the dominant. This project claims that these practitioners of the Philippines come together organically to form a community. The curator appraises this community of sound practitioners as resonant (taginting is the Tagalog word for resonant). The curator borrows the sonic characteristic of resonance (deep, clear and continuous) to metaphorically illustrate that the community of sound practitioners are grounded within historical contexts; participants have a clear sense of belonging; and that the practice is sustained.

This exhibit then aims to illustrate the ecology of this community of sound practice─their shared experiences and struggles, their shared artistic and musical lineage, cradled within the 4 decades of nation-building and rebuilding. The exhibits will be divided into modules of chronological order: Module 1 is for the present community, which is the second half of 2000s to present, highlighting Kamuning Public Radio, Ruthless, Musiko Imbento and WSK; Module 2 focuses on the contribution of artist-run spaces, from late 1990s to early 2000s, highlighting Big Sky Mind, Surrounded by Water, Mag:Net and Green Papaya Art Projects; Module 3 features influences that are coming from visual arts, music and performance art, highlighting Jose Maceda, Lucresia Kasilag, Judy Sibayan with Raymundo Albano and Agnes Arellano, from 1960s to 1980s. Module 4 is an auxiliary of Module 1, bringing to focus some of the most productive sound practitioners in the present time coming from various backgrounds, namely, Arvin Nogueras aka Caliph8, Children of Cathode Ray, Heresy, Lirio Salvador and Maria Christine Muyco, PhD.

Dayang Yraola (b.1976) is a curator from Manila, Philippines. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Philippine Studies and Master of Arts in Museum Studies from the University of the Philippines, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Studies from Lingnan University Hong Kong.

She is former Archivist and Collections Manager of the University of the Philippines Center for Ethnomusicology (2006-2015); curator of Jose Maceda Exhibit Series (2013, 2017 & 2018); founder and lead curator of art project series: Project Glocal Stamped/Transi(en)t (2011-2015) and Composite Performance/ Noise(s)/ Circuits (2015-2018); and at present an Assistant Professor at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts.

Dayang’s curatorial focus is on process as media (archival and laboratory), technology as media (analogue, digital, mechanical, electronic), and senses as media; with research on ecology of art practices (art residencies, sound practice communities), and sounding and listening cultures (Sonic Manila Research, since 2014).