I write in response to Alex Vergara’s article “Put your Money where Art is” (Inquirer, 5/4/09), which was apparently meant to sum up what transpired at a forum I was invited to speak in.

I understand that Philippine Daily Inquirer writers need to keep their articles to a certain length, so I am assuming that providing context to direct quotes may sometimes not be possible. However, in the interest of clarity and accuracy, I would like to set the record straight about a sentence attributed to me: “The sad story for many national artists in this country is they find it quite difficult to resist demand.”

It appears to me that without the following elaboration, readers could interpret the statement as a general dismissal of the practice of our national artists. Let me just say—as I tried to do at the forum—that what was in reference to was the fact (particularly for my grandfather’s generation of national artists who could not imagine opting to be full-time artists in the beginning) that the dependence of artists on the handful of collectors/buyers of art cultivated an intense sense of “utang na loob.”

By the time these artists got to their senior years, when they should have enjoyed the luxury of slowing down physically and being more selective about the work they would do, this sense of having to accommodate commissions from collectors remained an overwhelming burden on their backs. That is the context of that statement.

—EILEEN LEGASPI-RAMIREZ,
curatorial consultant, Lopez Museum,
eileen.legaspi.ramirez@gmail.com