MindanaoToday.com | Visual artist’s life, works get posthumous praises
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – It has been nine months since a septuagenarian self-made artist, Pennessencio “Nonoy” Capot Estarte, was laid to rest, yet the kind of life that he had keeps on reaping accolades, having etched cultural meanings to every piece of his work.
Sixteen of Nonoy’s sketches of pen and ink, depicting places and events of historical significance in Cagayan de Oro, are on exhibit at the City Museum along Fernandez Street here in time for the National Arts Month. Viewing started on Monday, February 19, and to last until April 30, this year.
Nicolas Aca, chairperson of Cagayan de Oro Cultural and Historical Commission, on Thursday, February 22, said artworks on exhibit, dubbed as “Saulog” (Celebrate), were Nonoy’s artworks months before he died. These, he said, were supposed to be part of an art exhibit to raise funds to sustain the artist’s medical expenses.
“This time, these artworks are no longer for sale,” said Aca, who admitted he is uncertain if these would be kept in the City Museum. A family member, he said, has been designated as caretaker of Nonoy Estate art collection.
In Monday’s opening of “Saulog Exhibit,” a pyrographic plaque with Nonoy Estarte’s face relief and citation on it was handed over to the family. It was signed by Mayor Rolando Uy, on behalf of the city government.
Resolutions from the City Council and from Cagayan de Oro Cultural and Historical Commission, both citing the late artist’s contributions in the city’s culture and history, were also read. These also took note of Nonoy’s initiatives in imparting skills and inculcating the love for visual arts, culture and local history among the young.
Though Nonoy saw the first light of day in August 1, 1950 at the village of Buug, Ipil town of Zamboanga Sibugay, yet he would later leave his hometown sometime in 1977 for personal safety after exposing abuses of government officials in his illustrations surreptitiously published and circulated in their locality.
That same year, he travelled to Cagayan de Oro and became an illustrator at the Jesuit-ran Xavier University’s Philippine Folklore and Folklife Center under the mentorship of the late Francisco Radaza Demetrio, S.J., a renowned historian. His artworks would later be printed in 15 volumes of the Dictionary of Folk Beliefs and Customs, and in Illustrated Folktales series.
Though his enrolment application in a Manila-based school of fine arts was turned down due his physical disability, this did not prevent his artworks getting international exposures through German publications.
He would later assume as resident artist and assistant curator of the Museo de Oro, also at the same academic institution, until his early retirement for health reasons in 2003, after 26 years of service. He was a hunchback by birth and breathing difficulty for years.
He rejoined his creator on May 22, 2023.
“This exhibit is a tribute to Nonoy Estarte’s well-lived life,” said Aca, a performance artist recognized here and across the country. (MT)
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