Keystone Press Agency, Inc.; 1970
Golden Years Weighing Philippine Martial Law 1972-1981 is an exhibition of photographs on the Philippines that appeared in U.S. newspapers in the 1960s-1980s. It is organized to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Philippine martial law, which was declared by the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos on September 21, 1972. The show also coincides with the recent election to presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., son and namesake of the late dictator. The show’s title is an ironic take on how the Marcos family labeled their rule as the “golden age of Philippine economy and society.” By contrasting this claim with both visual and numerical data, the show examines the malleability of perception, the elasticity of reality, and the vulnerabilities of individual and national memory.
The exhibit also emphasizes the role of the foreign press in documenting and examining these phenomena. First published in the U.S. papers, the photographs on display are source documents, detached from the influence and intervention of their subjects. Victor Barnuevo Velasco, curator, notes that “the photos are snapshots of history as they happen. The distance of the publication from the site of the events provided objectivity that normally comes only with the passage of time.”
The photographs form part of a private collection promised to the Albay Arts Foundation. The exhibit is sponsored by Malaya Florida, and by two Philippines-based organizations, DAKILA and Active Vista. It is hosted by Glenn Hubert Library of Florida International University Biscayne Bay Campus.
It is open to the public and runs until September 25, 2022. After Miami, the exhibit will travel to other U.S. cities for a year.
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