by Nikki Castillo

Pink and pocket-sized: Lunduyan ng Sining's literary and art folio, What These Hands Can Do

Category: Books

Genre: Literature & Fiction

Author: Various eds.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Lunduyan ng Sining came out with their lesbian literary and art folio in February 2008. The organization called for art and literature entries from Filipino lesbians all over the Philippines and came up with this lesbian literary folio. My copy has been sitting in my book pile since then. I was only able to read it cover to cover two days ago and here’s the impression it made on me.

The packaging is very nice. I like the cover art, the color of the text, the paper used for the pages and the size. It’s obvious that a lot of thought went into this. Much appreciated. However, content-wise, I felt a little cheated. I found myself stopping in the middle of reading some pieces. Of those I did read through, a lot of them left me feeling unsatisfied. Still, there was also a number of works that I found well-written and worth my peso. That said, seeing as the material came from real people with real stories (or real stories packaged in fiction) the content pretty much covered an array of issues that Filipino lesbians are struggling with today– coming out, love, lust, missed chances, and private victories. And really, this is what everybody needs, the assurance that you are not alone. What These Hands Can Do gives you this.

Overall, I do think this was a good first attempt at a lesbian literary folio. Maybe with their escalating popularity among lesbians in the metro and even abroad I will have a longer short list from their next folio.

Here is my short list of the works that wouldn’t stop bothering me:

Disclaimer: I am no authority on literature let alone its technical terms, so excuse the less than lay woman review.

Poetry

1. Oath by Ana Marie Yugalca p. 2
The imagery in this piece is just beautiful. I love how the tone is so soft and gentle– as if the hands being talked about were as smooth as porcelain as velvety as a sage leaf. Just beautiful.

2. Stranger in Seoul by Ana Marie Yugalca p. 19
While it could probably have used more imagery, I think the emotion and mystery in this piece is beautiful. Towards the end, I found myself wishing the character had run after the “beautiful woman” and lifted her chin so that the main character could see the woman’s eyes. I wonder what color they were.

3. First Aid by Ada Angeles p. 9
I tend to be envious of people who can write short compositions and still have them pack a whammy. This piece by Ada Angeles is no exception. It surprised me how the poem relayed so much given its simplicity. I don’t know exactly what I like I about it, but I do. Maganda (Beautiful).

4. The Green by Sheena Rose Jamora p. 21
I liked how the poem seemed at once dynamic yet immobile. It felt like I was in a stop-motion animation of a forest growing to immense proportions in a matter of minutes. I liked how the characters in the poem had absolutely no control over what happened and how they didn’t seem to care about it. Oddly enough, it reminds me of S&M.

Short Stories

1. The Art of Fleshing Out Rumors, In Ten Parts by Kate Pedroso p. 24
This was reminiscent of Winterson’s Written on the Body. While I am well aware of the fact that Winterson doesn’t own rights to this plot ( as I am sure this actually happens in real life), I think the similarity was one of the first things that drew me to the piece.

That aside though, the way the story was divided into parts kept me hooked. It was like taking a front seat ride as the author racked her brains for the exact moment she and the woman she loved came to be together. Seeing as I amchismosa by nature and that I love seeing how people tick, this trip through her memory banks was a story I wanted to see to the end.

I didn’t quite like the last two headings though. From the beginning the story was about trying to pinpoint where the two characters started, with all headings pertaining to that goal. When I read the last two headings I thought the author was still talking about the relationship of two female characters. I actually went “Oh nooo!” only to find out that the relationship coming to an end was the heterosexual relationship. Those two headings didn’t belong to this story. They disrupted the flow of the story. If these had been reworded to accommodate the goal of the story, I don’t think this review would be this long. Still, I liked this one.:)

2. Ulan Trapik at Kape by Ma. Cristina “Ging” Cristobal p. 36
Nakakatuwa! Natuwa ako sa kwento, sa kakulitan ng naratibo at ng pagsusulat over-all. Sobrang nakakatuwa rin ang presentation nung launch! Kapag nababasa ko tuloy yung piece, nakikita ko si Ging, este Rina pala, na namimilipit sa kilig. Haha!

Essays

1. Para kay Aya by Lee Navarra p. 51
Maganda ang pagkakasulat. Medyo fluctuating nga lang ang imagery, minsan malinaw minsan naman ay hindi. Pero malinaw na malinaw at damang-dama ang mala-chubibong emosyon. Ang galing! Akala ko nga iiyak na yung main character. Naging malabo nga lang para sa akin ang extent ng strength of character niya. At kahit hindi ako fan ng mga storyang iniiwan ka sa ere, palagay ko naman umakma siya sa obrang ito. Medyo mahina nga lang ang ending. Parang mas gusto ko siya kung pinakita pa rin ang bipolarity ng emosyon noong huli. May part two ba ito? (The piece is well written. Even if the imagery is inconsistent, the emotion was clear and defined the narrative. Even if I am not a fan of stories with indefinite endings, I feel showing the extremes of emotions in hidden love and the sad ending fitted this masterpiece. Will there be a sequel to this?)
2. Minsan May Isang Babae by Summer Fire p. 47
Nakakatuwa ang flow! Maganda ang tono. Light but engaging. Gusto ko rin ang humor ng writer, parang kwentuhan lang habang nagkakape. At naka naman ang ending na inlababo! Nakakatuwa. (I like the writer’s humor, reading the piece felt as easy as a chatting over coffee. And what the ending it is to fall in love! Entertaining.)

3. Battling It Out – Angie Umbac p. 49
While I do object to the Manila Bulletin headline (Third sex? You would think that a national circulation broadsheet would have the decency to brush up on correctness), I liked the story! Natuwa ako sa reaction ng mga magulang niya! Sana lahat ng mga magulang ng mga hindi pa out diyan ay ganito na rin. Para masaya ang lahat.:) So congratulations to Angie for winning these two battles.:)

It’s funny how supposedly intelligent people can have so little logic. Or even common sense for that matter. I mean really, using the natural inability to procreate as grounds to relegate people who go into same-sex marriages as second class citizens? I think that the chairs of politicians are actually parasitic aliens who have been feeding on the politicians’ intellect and logic. What say you?

Digital and Illustrated Artworks

1. Paghahalintulad – Kwami Biasbas p. 78

Nagustuhan ko yung drama ng litrato. Nagandahan at na-intrigue ako sa tatoo nung una kong nakita sa balikat mo, at nagustuhan ko rin ang litrato nung pinakita mo sa akin. Pangit lang ang printing. Sana lang medyo na-adjust yung brightness niya o kung ano man yung dapat i-adjust. Hindi kasi nakikita yung tatoo sa sobrang dilim nung pagkakaprint. Sayang. Pero, maganda pa rin.:)

2. Finger Fancy – Amrei Dizon p. 79
What struck me most about this was how expressive the close-ups of the hands were. I liked how the colors were kept bright and simple. Also, while I am still grappling at the purpose of the onlooking eyes at the lower left corner of the photo, I think it was a nice touch. It somehow gave me something to connect with. Nice.

3. Water My Garden – Amrei Dizon p. 74
I wasn’t sure what to think about it at first. I had to go back and look at it a couple of times before I realized I even liked it. But I guess the need to keep coming back to it was sign enough, ay? I think I kept coming back because I didn’t quite understand the relationship between the elements of the piece (the hands and the faucet water especially), but I think I get it now. At least I have my own interpretation of it, and it’s beautiful. Comment, I didn’t quite like the “water” though. Didn’t really stick with me well. Perhaps if it was executed in a different way. But it was nice still.

Lunduyan ng Sining (cradle of art) is a group of young and active woman-loving women that believes in the artistic ability and beautiful vision of lesbians. The group also believes in nourishing that gift by supporting and creating a haven for lesbian art, accomplished by initiating a series of projects to help flourish and make the lesbian voice be heard and acknowledged.

The literary folio “What These Hands Can Do” is its maiden project. You can contact Lunduyan ng Sining by sending an email to lunduyanngsining@gmail.com or by contacting the webmaster at weeqender@gmail.com.

Copyright by Nikki Castillo. This review was first published at http://fishbowled.multiply.com

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