White Privilege and the Gallery Experience in Manila

This week I choose to look at McIntosh’s paper (1988) on White Privilege in relation to my trip to the National Museum in Manila. In her paper she made a list of individual ways in which she, day to day, in the US experienced White Privilege, the unearned advantages one has by simply being White. I will focus on one list entry, “I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race” (McIntosh, 1988, p.100).

I argue that the art displayed in the gallery, as well as the forms and subjects “encouraged” by the colonizing powers historically active in the Philippines, speak to the experience of the colonizers more than the Filipino people themselves. I will examine, based on a modest background in art and design history, some pieces and explain how the figurative language and imagery, as well as mediums and narrative, cater to someone of my positionality, and reflect an experience of White Privilege on my part as a viewer. While these works can still speak to or move a Filipino, they were simply created with a Western Art sensibility in mind.

The First is a piece called Spoliarium painted by the artist Pinta Ni Juan Luna in 1884. It shows the dead body of a gladiator of ancient Rome being drug to a cremation fire. The people portrayed in the painting are what we would call White. The composition is familiar and comfortable for a consumer of Western Art. The subject matter, the death of a gladiator, gives a reference to the lineage of Greco-Roman culture as the “foundation” of classical Western art.

The second piece is called is called El Asesinato del Gobernador Bustamante and was painted by Félix Resurrección Hidalgo (n.d. given). This work centers on a White man as our tragic well-meaning victim. It tells a story of a Governor General of the Philippines who wanted the best for the Filipinos and was put to death for it. It has all the trappings of a “White Man’s Burden” morality tale. Once again the composition and medium speaks to White Western eyes.

The final piece I examine, called The Leyte Landing, was painted in 1948 by Romeo V. Tabuena. It shows heroic, embattled, American troops storming the beaches in defense of the Filipino people. Stylistically it is more modern but the narrative of the heroic white savior remains. He is the bringer of freedom and the righter of wrongs with Stars and Stripes in tow.

So what we have here are artworks that speak to a Western sensibility even thought they were painted by Filipinos. They reinforce narratives that Westerners, specifically Americans, feel comfortable with. They are exhibited in a forum that Westerners deem “appropriate” for fine art. They meet the Western standards for art in form and function. I feel they speak to “truths” the Western Art World and the American Identity hold as part of a collective unconscious sentiment.

To contrast and compare this experience, taking a cue from McIntire, I am going to summarize the rest of the readings and lectures and list an experience or instance of privilege I or a member of my race, gender, or class experienced in relating to them. In “The Philippine-American War, Friendship and Forgetting” (Ileto, 1998) there is a discussion of this war and an examination of a style of behavior that was termed by the Americans “Amigo Warfare,” wherein certain Filipino people were forced into a complex social navigation between there occupiers and the insurgents of their own country (Ileto, 1998). I feel that the soldiers of my country had a form of Economic Privilege in that their wives, children, and communities were being cared for back home while the Filipinos had to engage in warfare while at the same time caring for their wives, children, and communities. In “To the person sitting in darkness” Twain (1901/2002) examines the violations of the Filipino people during the same war, compares the US to other colonial empires of the day, and argues against American imperialism (Twain 1901/2002). In writing this article Twain was experiencing White-Male Privilege by being able to make the comments he did without his views being ascribed to him being a member of the White race or a male. In “Invasion of the Philippines” (Zinn, 2008) looked at the American invasion of the Philippines, hit upon several key events, drew parallels to George Bush and the war in Iraq, and tied in Twain (Zinn, 2008). This comic is written and drawn in a western non-manga style familiar to me which I can follow with ease and as well all the characters with solo word bubbles are men. Here I experience both Gender and American Privilege when I interact with this work.

In her lecture, Marshal Law, Quimpo (2016) examined the Philippines during the time of Marcos, the Marcos Dynasty’s connections to the current President Duterte, and the modern misinformation, propaganda, and white-washing related to Marco’s legacy. In contrast to some other people I have Class Privilege in that I have access to university libraries, the internet, and an education which allows me to navigate through conflicting accounts in order to try to find the truth about subjects and topics I may question such as these. In there presentation, Indigenous People, Mangahas and Perez (2016) looked at the experiences and struggles the Indigenous People of Philippines have had in relation to the securing of land and territorial rights. If my family were to engage in such a struggle we would have not only deeds but political, bureaucratic, and legal representation that are an Economic Privilege which the Indigenous People discussed have little or none of. In, Urban Informal Settlements, Gonzales (2106) discussed the challenges faced by the people of Manila’s informal settlement, Baseco, which include but are not limited to disease, sexual exploitation, employment, and governmental representation. I have White, Class, Economic, and in some cases Gender Privilege in that that most of the issues they face daily I do not have to encounter.

Returning to and summarizing my experience at the National Museum, I was half a world away from home and had familiar narratives and experiences served to me on my terms. This is an experience of White Privilege. Even if I may not agree with the narratives or enjoy the aesthetics I am free to make these choices at my convenience and leisure. Here I pose the question, if art can be an agent for change, what historical and societal factors inhibit the Art World’s ability to be more inclusive in the way it communicates with people of varying backgrounds, nationalities, and cultures?

References

Ileto, R.C. (1998). The Philippine-American War, Friendship and Forgetting. In Shaw, A.V. & Francia, L.H. Vestiges of war. (pp. 3-21). New York: New York Press.

Gonzales, C. (2016). Urban Informal Settlements. Presentation, University of the Philippines.

Mangahas, M., & Perez, P. (2016). Indigenous People. Presentation, University of the Philippines.

McIntosh, P. (1988). White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women's studies (Working paper (Wellesley College. Center for Research on Women); no. 189). Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College, Center for Research on Women. Banks, James A. (1993). The Canon Debate, Knowledge Construction, and Multicultural Education. Educational Researcher, 22(5), 4-14.

Quimpo, S. (2016). Marshal Law. Presentation, University of the Philippines.

Twain, M. (2002). To the person sitting in darkness. In Shaw, A.V. & Francia, L.H. Vestiges of war. (pp. 57-68). New York: New York Press.

Zinn, H. (2008). Invasion of the Philippines. In A people’s history of American empire. (pp.53-72) NY: Metropolitan Books.