THE SOCIAL VOLCANO DIARIES

by Norberto Roldan

At a crucial moment with the upcoming national elections and the son of the late dictator as the frontrunner for president, The Social Volcano Diaries serves as a reminder of Marcos’ hand in the deaths of countless victims of famine and the massacres in Negros.

Norberto Roldan. Religion, Poverty, Revolution, 1985. Collage with found photos, estampitas & magazine clippings. Set of 12

The series of 12 photo-collages comes from a group exhibition Mga Batang Negros at Hiraya Gallery in August-September 1985. The series was included in an exhibition by the Concerned Artists of the Philippines-Negros (CAP-N) and Black Artists in Asian (BAA), Images of Negros at Asahi Gallery in Tokyo in December 1986. Although the original works did not return after the exhibition in Japan, their transparencies were saved and digitized as archival materials.

The other series, composed of 7 drawings with collages, comes from another CAP-N and BAA exhibition, Snap Images, at the AAB (Art Association of Bacolod) Gallery in May 1986.

Norberto Roldan. Snap the Presidential Election, 1986. Drawing and collage on paper. Set of 7

The exhibition was a response to the recently conducted Snap Elections in February 1986. Marred by electoral fraud from the government side, it led to the People Power Revolution that signaled the downfall of the dictator and the rise of Corazon Aquino to the presidency.

The collages in The Social Volcano Diaries are being reproduced as limited prints, as a reminder of Marcos’ hand in the deaths of countless victims of famine and the massacres of peasants and sugar workers in Negros.

Norberto Roldan. Religion, Poverty, Revolution, 1985. collage with found photos, estampitas and magazine clippings.

These works resonate as Filipinos are faced a choice that deems revisiting historical narratives, never to allow this tragedy of social injustice to happen again.

Explore the entire exhibition at bit.ly/SocialVolcanoDiaries.