“Estuario: Kultura del Riyos y el Mar” is a group exhibition by Nelvert Anino, Florenbert Broñola, Jean Christine Cadano, Christian Cueno, Joefin Jamalul, Abdel-Aziz Masjiril, Romy Jones Mata, Elimar Pingkian, Juan Pedro Pollisco, Michelle Sing, Aileen Tan, Joefet Van Villegas and Mikaela Kyle Yvanoff is exhibited from October 06 – 31, 2022 at the NCCA Gallery.  

Across the rivers and seas, their stories will be told. 

Estuario or estuary is the part of the river where it meets the sea. It symbolizes convergence – the joining and blending of ideologies, encouraged by the members of PLASOZ or the Pinturas en Lienzos Artists Society Zamboanga City. 

The group – though relatively new and comprised of people with varied backgrounds – has emerged fluidly. Each member has braved themselves to represent their region with their creativity and intellect. Just like their forefathers who were mostly seafarers, they have circumnavigated obstacles, such as: not arguing about the proximity of their abodes and ignoring the differences in their schedules. Instead, they have united to help each other while recovering from the pandemic. Metaphorically, they are like waves- swirling and crashing into different forms and shapes. That, with such, is exhibiting beauty as a group that is not monotony, but, distinctive and innovative with their muses. 

Established in 2017 by Juan Pedro Pollisico, the Plazios along with its core members join regional exhibitions to continuously organize. It is merely for the love of the arts and to test their mettle to improve and be recognized in the scene as every artist’s dream. Moreover, the group advocates for the indigenous people (IP) community by doing immersions through on-the-spot, plein air art sessions inspired by the pristine beauty of the rich and diverse culture of their hometown—the mountains, hills, flora and fauna, rivers, lakes, and the sea. As a group, they generally show styles and nuances that vary and are driven by one or more of the following: nostalgia; particularization on things that are personal, symbolic of pride in history, and a sense of poetic nationalism. Collectively, this exhibition is tidbits of information exhibiting the artist’s authorship of semantic and technical approaches both as the signifier and the signified. Albeit, each use of strong imagery is aided with simple explanations. With it, a layman can adoringly understand what messages the artworks are trying to convey.