(The False Bernardo Carpio after 400 Years) / 2007 / Diorama (epoxy, sawdust, found objects, wood case) / Artist: Rodel Tapaya / Artist’s collection

Ang Huwad na Bernardo Carpio Pagkalipas ng Apat na Siglo is a diorama created in response to the curatorial concept of the Tampo Lapuk exhibit. Together with Marina Cruz, Leeroy New, Tatong Torres, Pamela Yan, Cris Villanueva, and Cos Zicarelli, this group exhibition is the intermedia component of the Second Dumaguete Terracotta Biennale. Tampo lapuk is a Visayan phrase that references the additive process involved in making terra-cotta, or baked clay. The exhibition was held at Museo Vicente where the library and memorabilia collection of the educator Vicente Sinco are kept. Sinco established the Foundation University in Dumaguete. The exhibition ran on 10-12 Jul 2007 with the curatorial efforts of Flaudette May Datuin and Riel Hilario.

Ang Huwad na Bernardo Carpio Pagkalipas ng Apat na Siglo is one of Tapaya’s early dioramas. It is a form that he began to experiment with in 2005. A diorama is a multidimensional display medium often employed in museums and galleries to illustrate a historical tableau. The deliberate selection of the diorama as a narrative device is Tapaya’s reaction to the exhibition site. Sinco’s study room in Museo Vicente is transformed into a place where personal possessions are treated as objects for retelling the past. Here, the room is emphasized as a means of containment or as if it defined the space of a larger, human-scale diorama.

The work appropriates the legend of Bernardo Carpio, a Filipino giant chained in a cave in the mountains of Montalban by foreign invaders. Bernardo Carpio’s struggle to escape the mountain-prison is believed to be the cause of earthquakes. The pseudo-protagonist in the diorama is portrayed by Uncle Sam. He wears the iconic tall hat emblazoned with the United States flag. His half-naked figure bears the expression of a trickster: his bulging eyes seem to convey malicious intentions while his mouth smiles provocatively. Bernardo’s gargantuan body appears to advance effortlessly in between two mountains while symbols of the Philippines’ colonial encounters frame the scene. A Japanese fighter plane hovers in the air; a Spanish galleon drifts with the water as members of the Katipunan, though miniscule, emerge tactically from the mountains.

The legend of Bernardo Carpio is a recurring theme in the artist’s works. Hailing from Montalban, Rizal, where the narrative persists strongly, Tapaya acknowledges its pervading influence on his art. It has led him to produce works that explore the narrative potential of local myths and legends while exposing astute commentaries on identity, colonial history, politics, and nationalism.