“A MAN may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death,” averred John Kennedy. When it comes to genius and creative people, creating some significant art somehow exempts one from having to pay attention to the small things. Balete, Aklan somehow proves this. Though regarded as a small town of 27, 197 residents (based on the current National Statistics O
ffice data), Balete prides itself with rich ideas. If one is looking for the most eco-friendly in Region 6—or should we say the most innovative for environmental consciousness—a cultured traveler will have a high opinion of the town. The town’s trump card comes from its Basura Garden and its environmentally-inspired festivals. The BasuraGarden
Last October 19, I was invited by fellow artist and Balete’s Sanggunian member, Hon. Patrick Lachica to visit the town. After being served with snacks, I was led to the Basura Garden where I spent my first few hours. When I first heard about it, I was already awed by the garden of art-from-junk—the only one outside the national capital region. Now that I saw the real garden, I was excited by the viewing experience. The must-see garden sent waves to several schools in the region which have field trips to the concept-rich mine of ideas. The art map of the country included the garden in the list as the only one-of-its-kind. The National Commission on Culture and the Arts representatives once made a visit to the site. At the entrance of the Basura Garden is a gift shop showcasing unique collector’s items created by the Lachica family. Inside, a viewer meets the wit of the family of artists behind the oeuvres. Either he or she catches the passion for earth’s ecological balance or reflects with awe the beauty of the transformation involved—from dirt-ridden trash rejected and trodden to a symphony of reverberating rhythms where only the imaginative minds could possibly sculpt the poetry. A guest who catches the poetry would never be the same. Mostly conceptualized by the father Cipriano, the mediums of the sculptures and installations—bottles, machine parts, slippers, and tin cans among others—make art closer to the masa. When the works of many artists using western-inspired mediums exude the aura of elitism which alienates the common tao, the works of the Lachica family welcomes him. Albeit one can easily find trash to create works of art, the artistic value of the sculptures and installations comes at par with what we know as “art” as distinguished from “craft.”
The owner Cipriano started the idea of a garden in the 1980’s after he finished his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Manila. Since then, he works prolifically with wood and stone which he puts side by side with found objects from rubbish. By: Lucell Larawan http://thedailyguardian.net/images/lucelllarawannewnewnewnew.png
