Nilo Ilarde’s latest curatorial project circulates an inquisitive air to the ideas of place-making, administering a re-thinking on the notions of placement vis-a-vis the conditions of how the works themselves could serve as the initial point of departure. Like in many of his previous endeavours, artist-curator Ilarde makes room for the art objects first, before he draws meaning from the entire assembly. In a way, the gallery space becomes the place where everything converges — and where dialogue begins, as the artworks commence their own wayfinding into their remarkable positions within the room.

This material-informed approach leads to a process: where one’s experience of the works are defined by a kind of narrative or sequencing that has been foremost dictated by the qualities of the artworks and how they would interact within the space. In relating this to topography, a curatorial envoy temporarily holds the title of cartographer, mapping out the features of both artificial and natural elements that will make up the lay of the land. Once everything has been charted, only then the spectacle is revealed.