Exhibition run
5th September – 1st December 2019
The exhibition explores spaces that seem unknowable: speculative and alluring spaces that summon nature, science, and the human psyche. Constructed through contemporary installations of works that question notions of perception, intuition, and empirical knowledge, What Lies Within: Center of the Center, encapsulate the unique practices of the four artists included in the exhibition: Mel O’Callaghan (Australia), Laurent Grasso (France), Suzanne Treister (United Kingdom) and Pamela Rosenkranz (Switzerland). With works that encompass all manner of inquiry and examination of contemporary life, the exhibition confronts visitors with propositions, offering not answers, but visceral presentations of probabilities and truths about the contemporary world.
Mel O’Callaghan’s “Respire, Respire” (2019) will be performed every Thursday and Saturday at 3:00pm throughout the duration of the show.
Public Programs:
Print Art of the Plant Kingdom
14 September 2019 | 1pm-5pm
MCAD Ground Floor
A half-day workshop for students 12-16 years old, which is inspired by Suzanne Treister’s botanical prints. Participants will be able to discover the wonders within the Kingdom Plantae through a talk on Botanical Illustration which is the “art of depicting the form, color and details of plant life,” and be able to create illustrations of flora in print through the guidance of Benjie Cabrera and Mars Bugaoan of the Philippine Association of Printmakers.
FSL Guided Tour
17 September 2019 | 2:30pm
MCAD Ground Floor
In collaboration with the School of Deaf and Applied Studies (SDEAS), a museum tour of the exhibition with a Filipino Sign Language interpreter is available to the Deaf community.
Verde Island Adventure with Recycled Art
27 September 2019 | 10am, 1pm and 3pm
MCAD Ground Floor
A one-hour activity for students 7-11 years old, inspired by footage captured by Australian artist Mel O’Callaghan. It features a talk on the unique food web of the Verde Island Passage, said to be the world’s center of the center of marine shore-fish biodiversity, plus a coral art assemblage workshop using recycled materials. With the help of the Science, Education and Advocacy (SEA) Institute, participants will learn how different marine species interact with each other, making a food chain.
Creating Coral Worlds through Crochet
12 October 2019 | 10am-12nn
MCAD Ground Floor
A two-hour workshop for young creatives and professionals. A coral-inspired crochet art workshop, this activity will impart skills in creating “amigurumi” (the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures) and hyperbolic forms to create 3D reefs. With this workshop, participants will learn more about the wonders of the seas’ rainforests and also, take part in a global art dialogue, dubbed as the Crochet Reef Project, that advocates for their protection.
Worldmaking through Speculative Writing
16 November 2019 | 1pm-5pm
MCAD Ground Floor
A half-day lecture and workshop for young creatives and professionals, which is inspired by the works of French artist Laurent Grasso, British artist Suzanne Treister and Swiss artist Pamela Rosenkranz. The workshop offers a dive into the genre of speculative writing, which is defined as “an expanded, open, imaginative type of fiction,” and will be facilitated by Dean Alfar, editor of the Philippine Speculative Fiction series.
MCAD Open House
27 October 2019 | 10am-12nn
As part of MCAD’s ongoing mission to inspire and be accessible to everyone, it invites all members of its partner communities surrounding De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde to visit the Museum for free, family-oriented tours and activities. The trip to the museum will surely be a way for family members to bond with each other as they enjoy its current exhibition “What Lies Within.”
Video Previews:
What Lies Within: Centre of the Centre is presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila in partnership with Artspace, Sydney and is generously supported by Pioneer Studios, the Australian Embassy of the Philippines and the Embassy of Switzerland in the Philippines.
