“Sa Digma ng Halimaw” a play on extrajudicial killings in the Philippines presented during Jejak Tabi Exchange 2020 — an international platform on contemporary performance that Green Papaya Art Projects co-curated. (Photo courtesy of Green Papaya)

SS: What were the foundational intentions and practices for Green Papaya, and how do these still inform your work?

GPAP: Initially, Green Papaya Art Projects was born out of the need to create a platform for artists to do what they want, without the constraints of the market or the institutions. Even at present, it aims to provide a platform for intellectual exchange, sharing of information, critical dialogue, and creative and practical collaboration among members of the artistic community.

SS: How has Green Papaya evolved since it began?

GPAP: Since it began in 2000, Green Papaya Art Projects has experienced several shifts in program direction, while still maintaining its aim on being a platform for experimentation and discussion particularly for practices outside of the demands of the market. This has been paralleled by the physical movement of the space — from Teacher’s Village to Kamuning to Rallos — and the evolution of focus in form — from dance and performance (2003-2009) to exhibitions (until a stable market developed for younger artists) to new media and sound-based programs to talks, screenings and gigs to projects that delve into archives and publications. It continues to carry influences from those the founders have collaborated with over the last 20 years. Formal and informal socials with visiting artists, researchers and all sorts of cultural workers and friends remain a given.

SS: As an independent initiative, could you share more about the importance of Green Papaya being an artist-run space, particularly within your context?

GPAP: Primarily, it aims to accommodate actions and propositions that other institutions could not and/or would not provide space for. Considering the culture induced by the art world’s “scarcity economy” (a lack of resources and opportunities circulating within the institutional network that has bred a culture of fierce competition), Green Papaya’s generosity in terms of resource sharing has been immensely helpful especially for younger artists and cultural workers who persist outside of the mainstream circles. The programs (projects, talks, screenings etc.) that it offers also widens the exposure of its visitors, as it covers perspectives that are not usually prioritized by art schools and other institutions. In addition, the archive that is currently being worked on provides a very personal and intimate view of the community and its players in the early 2000s to the development of the field in the present.

Alyana Cabral’s performance with Pablo Nuñez in “Never Forget, Never Again!,” an event in 2019 that commemorates the Escalante Massacre. (Photo by Yuji De Torres)

SS: Exchange, knowledge-sharing and interrogating a spectrum of sociopolitical issues is a large part of the types of engagements you initiate and get involved in. Could you expand on this?

GPAP: Through the years, Green Papaya Art Projects has always been aware of the function of art within the larger context of society, partnering and supporting progressive groups such as SAKA (Sama-samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo), CAP (Concerned Artists of the Philippines) and IBON Foundation. This can be seen through hosting discussions and screenings that directly talk about these issues; providing a space for remembrances (such as the “Remembering Escalante Massacre” event); and being a platform for campaigns that gather people in solidarity. Recently, it has created a series of online posters that directly respond to the current fascist regime. Whenever possible, it has also been vocal in talking about socio-political issues especially during participation in exchanges and conferences.

SS: Who do you see as your audience and who do you see as the community of Green Papaya? Are these the same people?

GPAP: There is no one audience for Green Papaya Art Projects. Similar to its evolution in programming, its set of visitors continue to shift. Mostly, however, it speaks to the local art scene in Manila and the practitioners within its regional network. Throughout its 20-year existence, Green Papaya Art Projects has hosted cultural workers from different parts of the globe both formally and informally. The wide range of topics that the space has been a platform for — from a “Marijuana Awareness Program” in 2014 to a “Community Dialogue on Sexual Harassment” in 2017 — has opened itself up to communities beyond the cultural field.

Green Papaya Art Projects exterior

SS: You are also in the process of organising your archival material, with the unfortunate fire in 2020 having hindered your progress. However, you continue to work towards building this archive. How would you describe the significance of the materials that make up this archive for your arts context, and ideas related to the history of artistic and curatorial practice within the Global South?

GPAP: Green Papaya Art Projects’ archives carry artworks, books, catalogs, documents and ephemera that were gathered even before its official start in 2000. Its collection includes: events-related ephemera that show its multi-pronged programming; documentation of earlier works and exhibitions from many (now) household names in the Philippine’s contemporary art; some audiovisual recordings of movement- and sound-based performances; zines, books and publications donated to Green Papaya or acquired through its participation in different local and international projects; catalogs of exhibitions; artworks from various artists — paper, paintings, photographs, textiles, mixed media works and design works; operational and administrative documents such as fundraising plans, grants applications, floor plans and blueprints, receipts, outlines of programs, and contracts; and even Norberto Roldan’s background as a former activist and cultural worker/organizer (BAA/VIVA ExCon) in Negros in the 80s and early 90s offer insight into how an artist-run space in Manila was able to sustain itself for 20 years. The richness of these materials reveal not only untold individual histories, but also an understanding of how an artist-run independent initiative can fail, evolve and be strengthened by the community it speaks to.

SS: You often have a number of projects within your pipeline at the same time. What are you working towards in 2021?

GPAP: This year, Green Papaya Art Projects continues to work on publications, local and international programs, and its archives. It is also initiating a project with the rural and indigenous communities in the Visayas, and will provide assistance in the curatorial and artistic direction of VIVA ExCon 2022, the longest-running artists-led biennale in the Visayas.

In the endorsement letter for an application to the International 2020 Relief Fund for Organisations in Culture and Education (Internationaler Hilfsfonds 2020) after a fire razed Papaya’s space in June 2020, renowned curator and critic Patrick D. Flores has described the organization as:

“For charting a less trammeled path, convening coteries not commonly present in institutions, and refusing to follow tried and tested logics set by habits and conveniences, Green Papaya serves a constituency that is vital in ensuring the survival of a lively art world. Finally, it renders a more ample field of practice and mental landscape as it provides opportunities for experimentation, critique, and general speculation about art itself and the society in which it is entangled intricately. Green Papaya initiates consequences out of this critical relationship with perceived hegemonies and from within incites its own circumstances.”

In addition, Founder and Artistic Director, Norberto Roldan, provides further insight into his personal view of Green Papaya’s role today: “Non-profit and independent art organizations are important channels of the supply chain of critical ideas, challenging propositions, and progressive actions. In the Philippines, Papaya anticipates a very crucial post-pandemic state dangerously entangled with a very volatile political scenario under a fascist regime.”