Students from the College of Fine Arts (CFA) “re-drew” history by recreating illustrations of pre-Hispanic Filipinos from The Boxer Codex, imbuing the images with their own modern perspective as part of “The Boxer Codex Reimagined,” a project for “Engkwentro,” the UP Diliman Arts and Culture Festival 2021.
Exhibited on Apr. 26 in an online gallery, “The Boxer Codex Reimagined” currently features Kharla’s Cagayan Woman” by Kharla Nicole Bitas (BFA Painting), “Elizabeth’s Visayan (Royal) Couple” by Elizabeth Fausto (AA Visual Communication), “Aleks’ Tagalog (Common) Women” by Aleks Jugueta (BFA Painting), and “Kyla’s Cagayan Woman” by Kyla dela Torre (Visual Communication).
The Boxer Codex Reimagined artists are part of the CFA Department of Studio Arts (DSA) Art Workshops SFA 192 and 193, Electronic Art Projects I and II.
The online gallery also contains the original illustrations from The Boxer Codex, a 16th century manuscript named after British historian Charles Ralph Boxer.
Also known as the Manila Manuscript, it contains 75 illustrations of various indigenous groups around the South China Sea, including pre-Hispanic inhabitants of the Philippine archipelago.
DSA professor Riza A. Romero said the project aims to provide “a venue for students and faculty of the CFA to reimagine codex and other colonial visual instruments, hopeful that it will serve as a model for future organized cultural encounters that will highlight our essence as Filipinos.”
Romero spearheads the project along with Prof. Ma. Corazon A. Hila from the CFA Department of Theory and CFA Librarian Roselily A. Medrano.
“The Boxer Codex Reimagined” was made possible by the UPD Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts.