ERWIN ROMULO: UTOPIAN HISTORIES

26.11.2025 / 19:00 – 21:00
With Erwin T. Romulo

This evening is featuring three works in progress – a film, a publishing house, a live performance – by curator, writer, and composer Erwin Romulo, who is in Berlin for a month with a DAAD Arts & Media Fellowship. All works are forms of storytelling expressed through various media, involving some of Romulo’s longtime collaborators in film, publishing and musical performance.

Romulo’s presentation follows Brian Eno’s guiding idea: “I always thought my mission as an artist was to make objects that belonged in a world that I would like to live in.” He will also discuss bahala na as a creative approach. Bahala na is a Filipino expression that means “come what may”, an optimistic acceptance that entrusts the outcome to a higher power. For Romulo, this principle is not resigned fatalism as defined in the West or determined risk-taking as explained by the advocates of Sikolihiyang Pilipino. Instead, he factors in uncertainty as a productive space that allows unexpected ideas and conceptual breakthroughs to emerge.

Film Screening
The program begins with Martika Escobar’s documentary on Neal Oshima, an acclaimed Philippine-based photographer whose commercial, editorial, and fine art work spans four decades. Guided by visual anthropology, Oshima has documented Indigenous cultures with unmatched depth and sensitivity. The film offers an intimate portrait of his life and practice through the setting of his home. It introduces new material created especially for the documentary and draws from Oshima’s extensive archives to reveal the stories behind some of his most memorable photographs.

Talk about the publishing house, ASO, moderated by Mathias Zeiske
After the screening, Romulo will speak about several current projects, with a focus on ASO, a publishing initiative for unwritten books.
ASO was founded by Romulo with artist Silke Lapina and creative technologist Berna Misa. It currently includes ten proposed titles from Filipino writers. Participating writers were asked what they would create if they had the time and resources. They responded with imagined titles, synopses, timelines, and budgets. These proposals are featured on the ASO website and shared with platforms that fund creative endeavors. ASO plans to present the projects at book fairs, pop-up spaces, crypto conferences and blockchain gatherings, and galleries. Their strategy includes tiered levels of support with corresponding rewards. One of the most playful rewards allows a supporter to become a character in a book. ASO commits to producing the first editions in its original language (English/Filipino) and German.

Live Performance with Bibingka
Berlin-based Filipino drag artist Bibingka (Alvin Collantes) will premiere a performance titled 501. The music was originally produced for the ballet Limang Daan in collaboration between Romulo, composer Malek Lopez, and librettist Moira Lang.
In this presentation, Romulo, Lopez, and Lang revisit and expand the themes of Limang Daan to explore Alvin’s personal histories migrating to North America, the Middle East, and Europe, tracing the tensions of assimilation and the world-building possibilities of “Bibingka,” their drag persona. 501 also features the voice of Mindanao-based artist Carol Bello, recorded live and improvised during the final performance of Limang Daan.

daadgalerie
free admission, all welcome
The conversation will be held in English