Guess what? I made it to Cebu 😏

Thank you foot for cooperating 🙏🏼

I was still limping but I didn’t need a cane, so I happily entered the campus of UP Cebu and wandered through the halls of Jose Joya Gallery, where CABF 2023 took place last September 9 to 10.

CABF

CABF is an annual international creative fair celebrating the various stories from Cebu in beautiful print, such as bound works, book form, zines, chapbooks, comics, and art books. Founded by visual design studio Happy Garaje and graphic designer Marc Abuan, the 2-day fair consisted of different programs detailed here.

I’ll share with you my interesting afternoon on the first day.

CABF main exhibition

The main exhibition took place from 10 AM to 7 PM at the second floor of Jose Joya Gallery. This white space was filled with color and life as 30+ creatives showcased their art and merch. I’ll tell you more about my goodie haul and the artists I supported.

Malaya paper doll by illustrator Ross Du and writer Kar Abola

This lovely paper doll is a reimagination of the artists’ Filipina girlhood. It is just so precious! Can’t wait to play with her 💖

Unseen rituals by designer Kookie Santos and still life photographer and mixed media artist Sara Erasmo

This zine is so beautiful but also so painful and heart-wrenching. Amidst the images of flowers are somber thoughts scattered throughout. In the words of the artists, “this zine is insecurity & self-hatred tied up in a bow”. Huhu.

Detours by Studio Unosinotra

This work took me by surprise. What caught my attention were the bookends and figures holding this studio’s pieces down, depressed women. I’m not even kidding. This sparked a conversation between the artist at the booth and myself. She then showed me this red folded paper, Detours. This zine is a product of a derivé mapping workshop by 17 creatives who roamed and explored Camputhaw, Cebu in 2019. It even came with a postcard (slideshow 2 of 8) with QR codes leading to the recordings of the soundscape in the area. What’s really cool is they made rubber stamps from the different patterns they saw in the neighborhood (slideshow 1 of 8). You can take a closer look at the routes the creatives took (slideshow 6 of 8).

To all my what-ifs by Allyssia Jane Aller and Maria Chatrina Samar Go

This little book of an illustrated poem just resonated with me. The title just spoke to me. The cover of the girl with stars in her hair called out to me. The author’s note just said it all. I had too many feelings this afternoon. Huhu.

CABF Weather Weather Lang poster show

This year’s poster show encouraged creatives to interpret the theme “Weather Weather Lang”, which connotes the unpredictability of life as the earth’s atmosphere. I liked these four posters the most (from left to right):

• The Weather Forecast For Today is Culture by Sean Amber Abac and Isabella Cabatingan
• Weather Weather Lang by Babsilog
• Weather Weather Lang by Dondridee
• Leaves of Hope by Dreamyria Art (same illustrator of To All My What-Ifs!)

In Conversation: talks on creativity, art, design, and self-publishing

What really made my afternoon was a series of talks by Ross Du, Sungil Noh, and Dan Matutina. Ross spoke of her nostalgic drawings, Sungil of his research on Southeast Asian visual culture, and Dan of his trademark illustrations, which AI has copied. Gasp! Watch my trailer above to hear some snippets.

What do you think?

Went to CABF? Share your goodies in the comment box.

On my next post, I’ll talk about a quaint afternoon at Comuna.

Remember. Reminisce. Reflect.

Salamisim out!