All boxed up: How the CCP packed the country’s cultural treasures

By Giselle P. Kasilag

WHEN the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) announced its temporary closure to give way to a massive rehabilitation program, the men and women of the Visual Arts and Museum Division (VAMD) found themselves with the herculean task of packing and transferring over 4,700 pieces of art and artifacts housed in the main building to a facility yet unknown.

How does one begin to box artworks that have been collected for over 50 years? With great difficulty and much care, apparently. But if there is one thing that a typical employee of the CCP possesses, it is the overwhelming ability to adjust, adapt, and make the impossible the new normal.

While the public announcement was made in September 2022, the employees were advised about the closure in June. The VAMD was given six months to come up with a scheme to box, transport, and store the priceless collection.

But real life had a habit of getting in the way and the best laid plans kept changing. They were initially told that only a part of the main building was going to be displaced. But upon further discussion, the decision was eventually made to completely close down the center and evacuate everything inside. It would make the rehabilitation faster and more seamless, but it also meant nothing could be left behind.

The immediate challenge was finding a suitable space that was large enough to house everything, and secure enough to keep the collection safe. That, alone, took about half of the preparation time. It was already October when an area was finally identified within the CCP complex, but it needed to be renovated in order to accommodate the collection.

Then the packing began in earnest. From December, it was all hands on deck. Boxes began to pile up at the lobby of the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater). The new facility was complete in February and, by then, everything that could be packed had been boxed and labeled. What will go first, which items will go together, in which part of the new facility will the items be placed — everything had been pre-determined. It was like a beautifully choreographed ballet. When moving day arrived, everything was safely transported and secured in their rightful place in just a few days.

FRAGMENTED NO MOREBut while the move was fraught with challenges, it also served to highlight the importance of the backroom work that art managers often struggle to find support and funding for. Particularly, the inventory and thorough documentation of the collection — the tedious and thankless task of identifying each object, describing it, explaining its significance, determining its provenance, and entering it in a registry — was the tool that helped VAMD keep track of the artworks throughout the transfer.

“When the pandemic started, inuna nila ang pag (they prioritized the) inventory ng (of the) visual arts collection,” Collection Management Associate Mercedes Marie Tolentino told BusinessWorld. “That’s where I came in. So nung 2020, pandemic project siya. Iniisa-isa namin lahat ng mga artworks again (So in 2020, it was a pandemic project. We went through the artworks one by one). That’s where I got a raw inventory of 2,400 artworks.”

“The transfer was welcomed din (too). Nagsu-suffer iyung collection (The collection was suffering) because of the lack of proper storage. And also, the storage is weathering too because of the building. It’s very old. So compromised na iyung mga spaces of storage namin ng artworks (The spaces of storage for the artworks were compromised). That’s why we feel this is also welcome because we need a new space where everything is together. Hindi na siya (It’s not) fragmented into different storage areas. Everything is consolidated, well-ventilated, malawak (spacious),” she added.

This fragmentation of the collection is something that Assistant Collection Management Associate Adonis Reuel Enciso knows too well. In charge of the ethnographic collection, he was finding woven baskets right up to the last moment before the move in the least likely places — the fifth-floor mezzanine, the kitchen of Silangan Hall, the orchestra pit of Main Theater, and the storage at the Folk Arts Theater.

It was like a game of whack-a-mole. Every time a leak or damage would occur, they would move the pieces to another part of the building that was safer but not really intended to hold art and artifacts. That the collection not only survived but flourished under these conditions is a testament to the VAMD’s skill and commitment to protecting the country’s treasures.

“Naaalala ko iyung sa MKP (Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino) may timba-timba before makapasok sa collection. So meron ganung fear na kapag umulan ng malakas baka may tumulo sa kisame (I remember at MKP there were pails and buckets before you get to the collection. There was fear every time it rained hard that the ceiling might leak),” Mr. Enciso recalled.

That was his pandemic project. The defunct MKP at the fourth floor of the main building had been closed to the public since 2017 but the displays were still in the space. He was able to gather those with the pieces found at other sites within the complex. As of last count, his inventory is over 2,185 pieces, but he is far from done.

He admitted that it was the Asian musical instruments that gave him the most grief in terms of packing. The ethnographic collection came in various shapes and sizes, none of which were standard.

“If you check iyung iba, hindi siya bastang ilalagay mo lang sa kahon (If you check the other items, they can’t just be placed in a box),” explained Mr. Enciso. “Odd-shaped eh. May malalaking gong from Indonesia, meron siyang stand. We had to dismantle the stand. Meron pang drums from Japan na malaki. The rest, iyung mga baskets, puwedeng pagsamahin sa iisang box. But mostly iyung musical instruments ang medyo challenging kasi iyung sheer number niya and iyung size, malalaki (They’re odd-shaped. There are big gongs from Indonesia with its own stand. We had to dismantle the stand. There are drums from Japan that are huge. The rest, like the baskets, we can put them together in one box. But it was mostly the musical instruments that were challenging because of the sheer number and size, they were huge).”

IMMOVABLE ARTFor Ms. Tolentino, the packing and moving of 99.5% of the artworks was standard fare for the professional art movers hired to assist the team. They were proficient in handling the paintings and sculptures, so it was only the volume of pieces to be packed that made the move difficult.

Except for one piece.

Pitong Sining by Roberto Villanueva is a tapestry that used to hang at the top of the stairs leading to the lobby of the Main Theater. It is 800cm x 500cm. They had to devise a pulley system in order to take it down from the wall safely.

Its location made it very susceptible to damage. Construction had begun on the fourth floor. They were rain-proofing the roof and the demolition was stirring up so much dust. Despite the difficulty, it had to be removed. It was transferred to the storage facility manually. The men literally carried the rolled artwork because no truck was long enough to carry it. It was the last piece to be moved out of the premises.

That remaining 0.5%, however, were immovable. They were either too big or so deeply rooted into the building that transferring them was out of the question.

Leading the pack was Black and White by National Artist for Visual Arts Arturo Luz. When National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin was completing the main building of the CCP, a prominent space at the Little Theater lobby was set aside specifically for Mr. Luz. His instruction was to put plywood and paint it white. He came in just before the inauguration to paint in his signature geometrical figures in black. It has been there since before the CCP opened and it will stay there throughout the rehabilitation. Its size — 244 cm x 6 cm x 1330.1 cm — is not the obstacle to the transfer. The issue is that the artwork is snuggly embraced by the wall.

“It is comprised of several jointed wood panels. Iyun iyung surface ng artwork (That’s the surface of the artwork). It’s not flush against the wall but it is squeezed in between pillars,” explained Ms. Tolentino who added that a panel of experts, including representatives from the National Museum, agreed that it is safer to keep the artwork on site and protect it from the construction work than to try to pull it out without destroying the artwork, the wall, or both. Mr. Enciso continued to explain that the joinery would break and the paint would be destroyed. Because the edges are fitted in alcoves behind the pillar, removal will always mean sacrificing one panel — an outcome that will never be acceptable.

So the piece is being protected in situ.

“We constructed a special crating for it. We put corrugated board. There’s a wooden brace. There’s ventilation. Everything that you could possibly do to help secure the artwork, we did it. We just have to see these pieces regularly to check on it,” said Ms. Tolentino.

In the same boat is Tribute To Seven Arts by Vicente Manansala. It is the artwork that greets guests at the foyer as they enter the Main Theater to watch a performance. Made of welded brass, it measures 117.5 cm x 616 cm x 20.65 cm. Except for the moon element, it is essentially a single piece mounted permanently on a cement wall. Like Black and White, there is no guarantee that it can be removed and reinstalled safely. And removal will mean destroying the wall where it currently hangs.

Joining Black and White and Tribute To Seven Arts are Hilojan and The Dancers by National Artist for Visual Arts Napoleon Abueva, Abuses of the Spanish Authorities by National Artist for Visual Arts Carlos “Botong” Francisco, Obra by Ray Paz Contreras, and The Dynamic Growth by Ed Castrillo.

“Everything was consulted with a collections manager who also helped us with preventive conservation so that means lahat ng (all) measures are taken in order to conserve or prevent the deterioration of artwork while it’s not being moved from the site. Lahat iyan may (they all have) steps that were followed, and everything was put in crates,” reassured Ms. Tolentino.

A TALE OF TWO TAPESTRIESThe biggest challenge, however, are the two tapestries hanging in the Main Theater and the Little Theater — Genesis by National Artist for Visual Arts H.R. Ocampo and Untitled by Roberto Chabet respectively. Both tapestries were created by Bizenya Weaving Co. of Kyoto, Japan.

Genesis, a stark red composition, is based on a painting by Mr. Ocampo. Measuring 1,097 cm x 1,828.80 cm, it remains hanging and untouched at the Main Theater. There is no feasible site that can accommodate it. Should one be identified, transporting it is another matter. Because of its condition, the only safe way to pack it is by rolling it, which means it will be too long to transport via commercial truck. The much-smaller Pitong Sining had to be hand-carried by over a dozen men to a destination that was just a few hundred meters away from the main building. Genesis is longer and heavier. The tapestry itself is old and fragile. It will not travel well.

The smaller of the two, Mr. Chabet’s curtain measures 613 cm x 1,512 cm and was described by the artist as a “black and white collage turned into a two-toned color — tan and a tan with gold threads.” A thorough inspection revealed that it was in a worse state than Genesis. Because the theater is smaller, the curtain rises by being folded in three parts. The top fold is exposed to cold air from the air conditioner. And when the device is shut, the room becomes extremely hot. The constant change of temperature resulted in the growth of mold at the top.

The tapestry has been taken down and moved up to the Main Theater where it now hangs behind Genesis. It was a challenging operation to remove, roll, and carry to the larger theater — over 20 people were called in to transport it.

Both tapestries need to be rehabilitated as well. Unfortunately, the Bizenya Weaving Co. no longer exists. Restoring the tapestries will mean searching for Japanese weavers who are familiar with the technique used in producing them. The cost will be considerable.

Fortunately, the rehabilitation of the theaters will take place in the next phase of the plan so these problems are being parked for the moment. But it weighs heavily on their minds. Though they are getting a reprieve, the problem is not going away. They will need to figure out a solution before the next phase begins.

But adjusting, adapting, and making the impossible the new normal is a job requirement for everyone working at the CCP. Ms. Tolentino, Mr. Enciso, and the VAMD safeguarded the country’s treasures through natural disasters, political unrest, and even a pandemic. Figuring out phase two is just another day in the office.