Featuring large-scale and expansive artworks, ‘Somewhere, Elsewhere, Nowhere’ stimulates visitors’ curiosity through humble, everyday materials.
Photo by Museum MACAN’s Documentation
This major survey exhibition by Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, titled ‘Somewhere, Elsewhere, Nowhere’, featured large-scale installations, sculptures, and drawings created over more than 20 years of their collaborative practice. Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan are a husband-and-wife artistic partnership, who have exhibited extensively in major exhibitions and biennales around the world.
They are renowned for their unique perspective which often revolves around spheres of home and family, incorporating found materials into their artworks, and a consideration of the ways in which identities and histories are formed through travel and migration. ‘Somewhere, Elsewhere, Nowhere’ presented a series of work in a vast variety of humble, everyday materials, including cardboard, flip-flops, toothbrushes, and even blankets. These are items which suggest mundane human activities and are also things that we travel with.
For the artists, these are simple materials that evoke ideas of individual identity, histories, journeys, and migration. Many of the works in the exhibition relate to the handmade—either created through processes of workshopping or crafted through the hands of artisans.
For example, the metal knives found in Belok Kiri Jalan Terus (Left Wing Project) (2017–2018) have been made by blacksmiths in Yogyakarta and the Philippines; and piña cloth in See/Through (Series 1) (2021), was made by Aklanon weavers and Lumban embroiderers in the Philippines. Piña cloth is a textile woven from pineapple plant fiber. The pineapple plant was introduced by the Spanish during the conquest of the Philippines and was later transplanted across Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In this way, this material is linked to ideas of colonization, plantations, and labor. These works illustrate the artists’ deep commitment to the work, history, and knowledge that can be found in the hands of artisans.
“Our story mostly has been inspired by experiences working in so many places, with different and diverse communities from all around the world, including Indonesia. Collaboration is a big part of our history and has become an inspiration and a major influence in the development of our practice,” said both Isabel and Alfredo. For them, ‘Somewhere, Elsewhere, Nowhere’ has always been about the idea of engagement, rooted in their love of seeing how the meaning of each work evolves and multiplies as the works travel.
The ‘Somewhere, Elsewhere, Nowhere’ exhibition challenged our perception of space, identity, and the human experience through the lens of contemporary art. This thought-provoking collection of artworks invited visitors to embark on a unique journey that blurs the boundaries between reality and imagination. The name itself, ‘Somewhere, Elsewhere, Nowhere,’ hinted at a paradoxical exploration. It beckoned viewers to look beyond the surface and delve into the intricacies of existence. The artists took us on a profound voyage through various mediums, including painting, sculpture, multimedia, and installations. They encouraged us to confront the transient nature of our surroundings and the infinite possibilities that await when we navigate the realms of the unknown.
