September 8–10, 2023 Escolta Street, Binondo, Manila
Tuloy in Tagalog can mean two things. It can be an invitation to come or enter, or it can also indicate that something is keeping on, continuing.
ESCAPE Biennale 2023: Tuloy Kayo — This year’s iteration of 98B’s biennial exhibition centers on the home as a site of inquiry. Join us as participating artists Bea Belen, Daniel Gruspe, Derek Tumala, Four Limbs Six Hands, Jason Dy, Julia Imai, Marian Hukom, Masyu, Miggie Bacungan, Ninna Lebrilla, Philippine Native Trees Enthusiasts, and Slaves of Liberty activate various spaces along Escolta Street.
Installation view: "Island Time (and by island I mean you as earth as heavy as grounded as present)" by Tanya Villanueva in PANPISCO
Here, home does not only constitute the literal physical house; it can extend beyond its four walls and can be metaphorical in nature. It is also a place of entanglement, a site where people and the relationships they build are made and unmade. It is a place of care and rest, but also of conflict, negotiations, and transformations. Thus, what it is, what it means to certain people, what happens within its confines and beyond not only impact our most intimate lives, but also affect the lives of those around us.
Since we moved to a modest mezzanine space in First United Building on Escolta back in 2012, the area’s rich history and culture has not only been 98B’s backdrop, but has also become our home.
Installation view: "IM/PERMANENT ADDRESS" with Four Limbs Six Hands Daniel Gruspe, & Julia Imai. Installation and performance curated by Frankie Lalunio under 98B’s Soma*site program. First United Building at the 5th flr garden area.
In “Tuloy Kayo”, we recall and re-evaluate our place and belonging in this street that stood as our home, while also asking what the home means, or can mean, while looking into the many nuances of homemaking and its implication on the larger picture of worldmaking.
Tuloy Kayo is our invitation to you. We’re happy to greet and welcome you inside our small abode to hangout, mingle, and participate as we create our future as a space moving forward.
Take a seat and rest. Our dining table has been set. Our garden is thriving. This is our house warming after years of being apart, and you are welcome to come in.
Installation view: "Under the Shade of Trees", a collaboration between Philippine Native Trees Enthusiasts and 98B, exhibited in the hallways of the First United Building.
Prior to its current form, ESC Biennale began as ESC Projects, a parallel event with 98B’s monthly Saturday X Future Market in Escolta, Manila. Essentially, ESCape Projects deal with spatial negotiations, transformations and interventions. It revolves around particular locations, contexts and renditions—whether as flights of the imagination or discharges of the creative spirit. ESCape artists are given the freedom to conceive and visualize new landscapes.” It is from this incubator that the notion evolved ESC Projects first became ESCAPE, a bi-annual exhibition first mounted in 2016 that runs for a limited number of days.
ESCAPE becomes ESC Biennale to both signify its roots in ESC Projects, but also to acknowledge its anchorage in Escolta (shortened as ESC).
Held up by the pandemic, “Tuloy Kayo” is 98B’s third bi-annual exhibit. It was preceded by the very first bi-annual titled“I Love You Virus” in 2016, followed by “SAKSI” in 2018.
