MEDIUM RARE
Long ago, long “before the Covid pandemic,” when I lived in Malate to be near the office, we had the habit of dining “after the concert at CCP.”
Our trio was composed of Josie Darang (who has since become the late Josie Darang), Pablo Tariman, and myself. The fare was a full dinner for Josie, potato salad for me, and bottle after bottle of beer for Pablo, aka Dolor if only because it sounded like a rich nickname.
Today, Pab, our once-upon-a-time Dolor, is in the news because his 566-page book, Encounters in the Arts: Essays, Profiles, Reportage, is hot off the press. If justice be done, the book should be made available in every public and college library. Additionally, it ought to be buried like a time capsule because it contains the history of art and the performing arts in the Philippines as we use the term – music, dance, ballet, theater, cinema – in the 21st century.
What little I know of Pab, even after all those bottles of beer, is that he is an inescapable presence at theater lobbies whenever there’s a performance, especially so on opening night. He’s the guy who alerts us in media to keep this and that date open “for a show not to be missed,” in so many words. He’s a bridge, a tourist guide who tells you what you shouldn’t miss.
After reading his book, or 70 percent of it for starters, I can say now that I know 8 percent more about him, and not just because of his devotion to his work and the artists who make his world. Whether a writer likes it or not, even when he keeps himself out of the words and paragraphs, something about himself or herself will manifest, plainly or between the lines. It’s easy to guess that Pab’s heroines are Cecile Licad and the late Nedy Tantoco, not only because their portraits appear on the cover, but until and unless the stories of their flesh-and-blood-ness are told, the author has failed.
To be fair, Pab also shines the spotlight on the stars of architecture, literature, even the invisible piano tuners without whom a recital or concert would be too risky to produce. Take a bow, Mr. Tariman!