Introduction The Artist Dante Enage was born on April 8, 1972 in Tacloban City. He spent his grade school days in a local eleentary school in !atia "illage Tacloban and he st#died in $eyte %ational High school a&terwards. He has a wi&e and a da#ghter. He is c#rrently residing in 'rgy. (an )ose in Tacloban City. Enage did not proceed to college beca#se he tho#ght it was tiring. *hen as+ed what he wo#ld be i& he is not an artist today, o+ingly said -a priest or a -pedicab dri/er. He &#rther e0plained that when he was yo#nger he didnt care #ch abo#t what he wo#ld be in the &#t#re and that he was not /is#aliing what he really wo#ld be. *hen he was in high school, #st li+e a typical high school boy, he wo#ld o&ten hang o#t with soe &riends. Enage is a /egetarian. He doesnt really watch the news or read the beca#se he thin+s they #st a+e hi diy, partic#larly politics. He #ses social edia, li+e &aceboo+, to broadcast his artwor+s and reach o#t to his b#yers. He has been wor+ing as an artist &or alost 18 years. He started painting and s+etching when he was in his early 23s. He was e0posed to the arts o& local artists s#ch as D#l C#na and $eo "illa&lor in his early days as an artist. His other was s#pporti/e abo#t abo#t his career and e/en e/en helped helped hi &inance &inance soe ateri aterials als in his &irst e0hibit. e0hibit. Howe/er, his &ather was not s#pporti/e abo#t his choice o& p#rs#ing his art career, &or the sae reasons that ost people thin+ abo#t the onetary incoe in it. 'e&ore he becae a renowned artist, he was &ascinated with an art sign shop in his neighborhood. And so he started drawing things, copying whate/er he saw. Then tie cae that he got to eet people &ro the art co#nity. They in/ited hi to attend and participate in di&&erent art galleries and e0hibits. Dante Enage priarily #ses -t#ba paint or pigent e0tracted &ro cocon#t tree called cocon#t wine. His in&l#ence in a+ing a t#ba painting was his predecessor $eo "illa&lor. *hen they #sed to participate in e0hibits, Enage also painted b#t a &ew t#ba paintings. $ater on, when "illa&lor died, he painted a lot o& the. And people +ept as+ing i& he was going to contin#e what "illa&lor has ade &or the art c#lt#re 4t#be painting5. (o he #st contin#ed it with the hopes that it wont be lost and &orgotten in o#r art c#lt#re. Howe Howe/e /er, r, soe soe artis artists ts 6#es 6#esti tion on hi hi abo# abo#tt the the long longe/ e/ity ity o& the the edi edi# # 4t#b 4t#ba5 a5 considering its acidity which daages the artwor+s original state. And so, he i0ed it with -baro+ 4bar+ o& a tree #sed to tint the t#ba dar+er5. The edi# he #ses also deands a proper location and eno#gh e0pos#re to s#nlight or the artwor+ will &ade o#t. His His inspi inspira rati tion on paint paintin ing g is his his da#g da#ght hter er #i #i Enag Enage. e. artwor+s where she is the ain s#bect.
He has has ade ade soe soe
He gets his ideas in painting &ro the s#rro#ndings and daily li/ing. He e/en brings with hi a s+etchpad all the tie and s+etches whate/er coes into his ind e/en when he is inside a o/ing eepney.
He paints /aried iages. *hen he was starting as an artist, he painted portraits o& people. esently, he is ore into abstract. '#t in his early days as an artist, soe o& his paintings were also inspired by the great (al/ador Dali. As a tr#e artist, despite the lac+ o& reg#lar incoe in the ind#stry, he doesnt lea/e it. He contrasts hisel& to pse#do artists who #st a+e art &or a li/ing. He a+es art beca#se its what he lo/e doing. As he describes it, its li+e an essential thing &or hi. He li+ened not being able to paint to being thirsty. Howe/er, he does not deny that at ties, he gets en/io#s o& what his classates ha/e achie/ed owning cars, big ho#ses and highpaying obs. '#t when he paints, the satis&action he gets is beyond anything. !or hi, he &eels an ine0plicable &eeling &ro it. He raises the iss#e abo#t the $eytenos being indi&&erent to o#r art c#lt#re. And in a way, p#ts the blae on the go/ernent. He entioned that the local go/ernent is not so s#pporti/e abo#t the art co#nity. They get in/ited to e/ents to e0hibit their wor+s b#t the art co#nity in Tacloban doesnt get &#nded or the arts and c#lt#re &#nd is allocated to other &ors o& entertainent s#ch as bea#ty pageants. Dante Enage is presently the president o& an art gro#p in Tacloban called :asi:asi and a #sical band called :#lahig in which he plays the jimbee. Aong all the e0hibitions he participated in, his e0perience in ;alaysia was the ost eorable. He said that it was sel& grati&ying to be able to represent not #st o#r pro/ince b#t also the co#ntry and show pro#dly show what aaing art c#lt#re we ha/e. His artwor+s incl#de oil on can/as, t#ba paint, i0ed edia and paperclay. He ade a reg#lar price on all his paintings to a+e it &air &or his b#yers. He sells his pieces 2
The Artist and the Society Dante Enage shared his e0perience d#ring the typhoon olanda 4Haiyan5. -*e were here in (an )ose. *e were #pstairs. They were te0ting #s to go downstairs b#t it wasnt that strong yet, so we #st stayed. And when the tie cae that the ho#se was li+e sha+ing, it was li+e going to brea+ and the doors were destroyed. *e attepted to go downstairs when the ceiling got blown away. '#t when we went o#t o& the roo, = got carried by the strong wind. And so = got a good grasp o& o#r closet. ;y da#ghter held on to the wall so she was able to stand #p while y wi&e was h#rled. A&ter olanda, Dante Enage started painting again. This tie, his thees was all abo#t olanda &ro the tie people were str#ggling to s#r/i/e #p to the tie when
people stood #p to their &eet and got bac+ to their noral li/es.And as a res#lt, he was able to a+e the Usbong 4grow5 series.
Arts of Dante Enage
“Baybayin”
“Gamot”
“Hin-o Ako”
“Mulay”
“Rebelasyon”
“Peace”
Usbong 4
Usbong 5
Usbong
Usbong !
Dante Enage’s latest painting titled ‘I Survive Yolanda 1,’ tuba and acrylic on canvas, 24” x 1”
Awards •
1st lace hilippine /is#al Arts !esti/al ainting Copetition, 231>.
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2nd lace An *aray T#ba ainting contest, 2338.
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>rd lace ?otary Cl#b o& $eyte @#l& ;#ral painting Contest, 233
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2nd lace (pawn B ;#nicipality o& Tana#an, ots s+iboard painting contest,233< 2nd r#nner #p @o/.?eedios $. etilla (ail ainting Copetition,233
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>rd r#nner #p Tacloban &iesta (ail ainting Copetition, 233>
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Artist Philosophy Capt#re the things that t#g yo#r heartstrings, o/e yo#r so#l and sti#lates yo#r ind. Do not be a&raid to e0plore, &or the concept o& tie and space is erely a state o& ind. o#r iagination +nows no bo#ndaries.
Artist’s Statement -Each piece o& y artwor+ to#ches the social, political and c#lt#ral iss#es plag#ing y people, the *aray *arays and y &ellow co#ntryen, the !ilipinos. At ties, it also tells y story, y personal str#ggles and dreas. ;y c#rrent wor+s are all done #sing the nat#ral pigent deri/ed &ro the tanbar+ o& the baro+, a angro/e, which is #sed to color and &la/or t#ba, the local cocon#t toddy. The interesting thing abo#t this pigent is it dar+ens as it ages. = then inect cl#es abo#t the conte0t and interpretation o& the painting #sing baybayin, the preHispanic te0t o& the !ilipinos. The pieces = create are eant to ed#cate and raise awareness. =t is eant to be a tho#ght pro/o+ing con/ersation wor+ o& art.
Rapporteur’s Note Photo Appendix i!liography httpFFnbpaperclay.coFdanteenage
