FRESH PAPAYA ] A favorite space undergoes a little retweaking

Post-reopening guests, artists Patricia Eustaquio, MM Yu and Nona Garcia.

Of the local galleries, Green Papaya holds a distinguished spot. It can be outrageously intellectual one moment, say, in exploring the interrelationship between performance and dialogue (“The snobbish tone of a roundtable discussion belies the possibility of taking something much seriously than how it already appears to be because surely there is nothing as tedious than witnessing steadfast attempts of repeating patterns to the point of their own exhaustion.” Whew, ka-exhaust.) Or when talking about the annual Serial Killers group show (“Serial Killers is a response to parallel notions of seriality, non-seriality, or counter-seriality.”). Still, from that high up, nowhere in the art scene is the atmosphere most grounded than at the rough-around-the-edges halls of this space near the corner of T. Gener Street and Kamuning Road in Quezon City.

Here, far from the polished, finished walls of the spaces everywhere else, despite the occasional presence of collectors and other demigods, the artist surveys the new works of their colleagues, then parties about unencumbered, owning the space like home. Maybe it’s the artists who run it. Maybe it’s the San Miguel. The thing is, no matter the culprit, Green Papaya is—to use a not-very-cool description—fun. And now that the space is on its third incarnation—as a full-fledged bar but with art on the side—the interiors remain possessed of its original resolve: to carry the best and, ugh, wasak in contemporary art, and to give the community an all-embracing second space to come home to.JG

The ground floor space is the bar and art shop (selling small, old works by the likes of Maria Taniguchi and Nona Garcia), the second floor has been turned into a studio and living space for artist and gallery owner Norberto "Peewee" Roldan. Clockwise from top left: the bar had been moved further to the front and serves, the last time we were there, red wine, vodka, Johnnie Walker and beer, of course; works by New York-based artist Gaston Damag unearthed from the Papaya archives; more works by Damag who recently had a show of installations at sLab; and lightboxes by Nona Garcia.


Green Papaya Art Projects is located near the corner of T.Gener Street and Kamuning in Quezon City. It's open from 4pm onwards Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.


Photographs by Rico Quimbo.