Artisan Maximus

If there existed a repository of Cu Unjieng family folklore, the chapters pertaining to my direct family branch would have to mention how my late father, in his senior widower years, inexplicably developed a bizarre bazaar fetish!

For some unfathomable reason, almost every weekend would find him attending bazaars in his own inimitable fashion. This would consist of showing up a good hour before the doors would officially open; and insisting, in the midst of the setting up, to purchase items. It was like he was taking the adage about the early bird far too much to heart. Friends who were budding entrepreneurs and had booths in these fairs would text me about how my dad was the very first to buy, and leaving before they would even open.

Triggering these memories of father was my visit to ArteFino at 8 Rockwell. A resounding success, the organizers of this three-day showcase of various things artisanal can pat themselves on their collective backs. Whether it was jewelry, crafts, apparel, home furnishings, fashion accessories, fragrances and soaps, alcohol and craft beverages, food, or fans (as in pamaypay), ArteFino made me a fervent fan — and a proud one at that, witnessing how all these products are all homegrown.

With some 70 exhibitors, my minor complaint about the degree of duplication that exists has to be registered. But I do recognize how it is opportunity for so many of these businesses and won’t begrudge them the chance to show off to a captive audience. The Saturday evening I managed to attend had a wonderful cross section of attendees — including showbiz personalities like Maja Salvador and Bibeth O. Siguion-Reyna. I also saw social media posts with the likes of Sen. Grace Poe and Makati City Mayor Abby Binay having dropped in on ArteFino.

One of the unique propositions of ArteFino is how so many of the vendors are good friends or acquaintances. My sister-in-law Maitoni with her sister Tina manned the Milvidas booth, Monchet Olives at Monchet y Cia, Karen Santos, Michelline Syjuco, Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, Ito Kish, Tim Tam Ong, the Vargas family members behind Bucky’s, Grace Barbers-Baja, An M. Alcantara, Carissa Cruz Evangelista, and the list goes on and on. And this makes the atmosphere at ArteFino very special — it’s not just a bazaar, it’s also a reunion, a congregation of friendship, and of a love and appreciation for what Filipino artisans can create.

Going back to my father, during his time, there was no ArteFino, no pop-up stores. But I’m certain he would have given ArteFino his two thumbs up. When he visited his bazaars, he would often recruit his grandchildren to accompany him, “bribing” them with promises of lunch or dinner after the sneak attack on the bazaar. And I know, he would have been especially happy to make buena mano at Maitoni’s Milvidas — as long as she would have been ready to accommodate him a good hour before the official 10 a.m. start of operations!

Time bandits

Today’s three novels are wonderful examples of stealing time for our enjoyment. Mastai’s is a time travel piece, while Lovett’s combines religion, treasures and love in equal measures. Gill’s is something of a love poem to 1970s New York architecture.

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai (available on Amazon.com) When first we meet Tom Barren, he is living in 2016 very much unlike the one we know. It is everything we dreamed the future would look like when people were imagining it in the 1960s. The son of the man who is developing time travel, Tom has to that point been a disappointment to his father. Designated as the alternate “chrononaut” when circumstances change and it is Tom who travels to the past, a wonderfully written tale about redemption, family, loss and love is set in motion. Causing changes in time’s fabric has its consequences, as the world resets to the 2016 we know. What could have been a straightforward time travel story becomes a humorous existential treatise revolving around decisions, possibilities and hubris. Both entertaining and wildly speculative.

The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett (available on Amazon.com) For those who love books and libraries, modern day quests for medieval treasures and precious objects and mysteries with strong, rich characters and eccentrics, this latest from Lovett is just the thing! Author of The Bookman’s Tale and The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge, Lovett has always had an uncanny sense of history, time and place, thanks to the wonderful research he puts into his books. This is no exception as at the core of the novel is Arthur Prescott, English professor, but most at home in the Barchester Cathedral Library, where he pores over ancient books and quenches his thirst for evidence that King Arthur and the Holy Grail truly existed. When Bethany Davis arrives to digitize the library’s contents, a wonderful “hunt” ensues. A truly great read!

The Gargoyle Hunters by John Freeman Gill (available at Fully Booked) An exceptional love for New York architecture and a sense of time and place propel this novel about fathers and sons, about art and obsession. When we meet Griffin, he is a young boy, enmeshed in the middle of a struggle between estranged parents. His father, in the architectural salvage business, is one obsessed individual while his mother, lives in the brownstone still technically owned by his father. It is in trying to create a bond and relationship with his father that Griffin goes down a path that leads to petty crime, and taking scary risks that put his own life and limb at peril. Interspersed with vignettes that demonstrate a keen ear for showing us how growing up in New York in the late 1970s would be, the novel both charms and provides trenchant food for thought.