“A Tribute to the People Who Refuse to Remain Faceless”
Oil on Canvas
2’x3’
In another place relatively out of the radar for most of us, Maute has become the reality that victims and soldiers alike get up to each morning. Many of these people remain faceless and nameless to many of us. While ignorance is often the cause of apathy, it is also true that an information overload can often desensitize people, reducing the shock value until we have reached a point where we have accepted mass atrocities as a normal occurrence, and at times even trivial. Many hold differing opinions on the Maute crisis in Marawi concerning Martial Law and implications of a tension between Islam and Christianity (or the lack thereof), yet somehow these otherwise critical questions are reduced to accusations of fanaticism or bias because it simplifies these issues that are complex by nature.
In this day and age, there is no excuse to be ignorant and ill-informed as it is almost virtually impossible to be a hermit. Perhaps it doesn’t make sense to assume that people remain apathetic what with the #PrayforMarawi.
But when we hear the stories of the people in Marawi and come to the realization that we are no different from these people in that they too have their own lives and families; that the same can and could have happened to us at any given time, the idea of hashtag activism starts to become absurd. It may accomplish the job of spreading awareness, but in the end, it is the actions we take that ultimately bring relief to our countrymen, and the gratitude of these people coupled with the hope of deliverance is priceless.
(Right: reference photo, left: close up view of painting)
Hence the inspiration for this painting was taken from the real faces of the people in Marawi, the aim being to make them as recognizable as possible rather than using the mere product of my imagination as the artist. This painting aims to echo the refusal of our countrymen to remain faceless.
Photo References:
(2017, June 24). Retrieved August 2017, from kamusta-naman-dlsus-richard-heydarian-asks-about-phs-new-beshies-after-western-allies-offer-help-for-marawi
(n.d.). Retrieved August, 2017, from https://coins.ph/marawi/