An exhibition that will awaken our souls and touch our intangible illusions, “Juan Dala Krus” a two-man-show exhibition of Angelo “Junjun” Duarte and Arel Zambarrano opened last November 17, 2017, Friday at Museo Iloilo. The family and friends of the artists were in attendance; art enthusiasts, cultural workers, elites, and construction workers were also present to witness the much-awaited collaboration that was planned a couple of years ago.

For this comeback show of Duarte, he presented his eight mixed-media wall bound artworks and art installation entitled Cargo Cult” (Colonial Garbage) that boldly portrays the colonial mind frame of Filipinos. We are now a reflection of their language, trends, and products until we have completely forgotten our own ways of living, government and academic systems and even our core values that make us Filipinos stand out among the rest. He also tackled the same case in his performance art with Renwil Jake Portodo and Anton Dumhar Duarte entitled “You The Puta” that caught the attention of the audience during the opening program.

For Juan Dala Krus, Zambarrano also gave justice to the title of their two-man show by openly telling us his personal stories, represented by his seven wall bound mixed media artworks, 4x5ft painting, and perilous art installation. His “Sometimes Inner Darkness Can Show You the Light” deals with Filipino mentality of backstabbing. With this artwork, he also created an art installation entitled “Welcome Criticism” where he laid 911 pieces of knives on a red carpet, guarded with chains and bollards with Sugar Hiccup’s music in the background.

As a whole, the two-man-show exhibition of Junjun Duarte and Arel Zambarrano is an image of Filipino values, norms, and beliefs that is very timely to discuss with the current generation where information could be easily grasped through technology and social media. At the same time, this issue is dangerous to discuss because it touches our core human being that is very delicate and vulnerable. Nevertheless, the artists painstakingly studied and planned “Juan Dala Krus” to be sensitive yet murderous.
The exhibition is open to the public and will run until December 13, 2017 at Museo Iloilo.