ILOILO CITY – Artist Cristhom “Dodoy” Selibio Setubal has repurposed scraps to reimagine heritage churches in the province and city of Iloilo.
THE ‘Iglesia: Heritage Churches of Iloilo’ exhibit at the National Museum of the Philippines-Western Visayas in Iloilo City featuring the art works of Cristhom ‘Dodoy’ Selibio Setubal using scrap materials. (Tara Yap)
“Iglesia: Heritage Churches of Iloilo,” the ongoing exhibit at the National Museum of the Philippines-Western Visayas here, explores Setubal’s mixed-media rendition of 11 churches and a belfry.
Setubal repurposed scraps such as driftwood, computer parts, aluminum sheets, beads, and espresso pods to intricately build two-dimensional facades of churches, including his hometown of San Joaquin and neighboring Miag-ao, which is the only
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site in the Visayas and Mindanao.
The self-taught artist also made the side facade of the old church in the town of Oton, which was destroyed by the Lady Caycay earthquake in 1948.
Aside from churches, Setubal also made a rendition of the newly refurbished Jaro Belfry here.
While he has had a long inclination towards the arts, the former seafarer started sketching churches in 2016 as part of his interest towards built heritage. The Museum of Philippine Economic History exhibited his works in 2019.
He ventured into other materials during the pandemic lockdown pandemic, using mixed media works that also impart environmental messages of recycling and repurposing materials.