Statue, Ateneo De Municipal 1872-1877, University Archives, Ateneo de Manila University 2014
90x90cm, c-print

The project cosists of several video and photographic works anchored on the lengthy letter correspondence of the intellectual revolutionary and national hero of the Philippines Jose Rizal with the Austrian ethnographer Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt, who was an esteemed European expert on the Philippines in the 19th century although he never visited the Philippines. The focal point of the exhibition is the presentation of related documented objects such as the original Sacred Heart of Jesus statue sculpted by Rizal, and a film showing daily life amidst places named after Rizal and Blumentritt, overlaid with an audio-recording of a selection of letters translated specifically for this project in Tagalog. Complementing these works is a video-interview with renowned Blumentritt-expert Dr. Feorillo Petronilo A. Demetrio III, discussing the significance of Blumentritt for current Philippine Studies.
Such depiction, documentary yet conceptually framed, echoes a historical sentiment into contemporary times, aptly concluded in the words of Blumentritt himself: “…but I cannot do anything else. We say in German that truth should be honored.”

Martin Krenn, HD digital, 23 min, Manila 2014, Tagalog with Engl. subtitles
Speaker & translator: Karen Batino

Interview with Dr. Feorillo Petronilo A. Demetrio III
Martin Krenn HD digital, 23 min, Manila 2014, Engl.

supported by:

Bundesministeriums für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur Österreich