The Saturday group’s palindrome year

The Saturday Group is now a regular weekend fixture at the EDSA Shangri-La Plaza Mall, as people always see them sketching in a cordoned-off area on the third floor. They are earnest artists – some two dozen of them at a time – who get together on Saturdays to sketch, and on occasion come up with exhibits. True. But that’s only one way of seeing the Saturday group. Here’s another:

Picture the Saturday Group hanging out in a hut beside the pond at the Parks and Wildlife. Malang and several others are huddled inside the hut, discussing palindromes. King Verano is on the balcony, squinting to locate pinpoints of light in the trees. On the opposite side of the verandah, Cris Cruz paints a vivid acrylic landscape. Inna Vitasa and Ludia Velasco sit together at a table, doing watercolor impressions. The rest of them, myself included, are scattered all about, working on their own or watching another artist at work. It is quiet, and the atmosphere is almost serious. Until, of course, the hilarious Magoo Valencia comes in from his spot behind the bushes, and starts the wisecracks and the noise. Malang, always the alaskador, adds to the banter. Hoots and guffaws erupt from the artists – and the racket begins.

Is the Saturday group engaged in earnest artistry or playful socials? It can be viewed both ways, like a palindrome, which is on the minds of Saturday Group artists these days. Palindrome is the Saturday Group’s theme this year, and for good reason. The group is 33 in the year 2002 – two numbers that read the same forward and backward.

Palindrome signals new visibility, different perspectives. It is a significant period in its history, as it aims to offer its public alternative ways of "seeing" the Saturday Group. There will be a series of shows held every month, showcasing the many facets, various styles, expressions and perspectives of its artists.

To kick off the Palindrome year, the Saturday Group celebrates the Art Month with a show at the third floor of the EDSA Shangri-La Plaza. The Crucible Gallery curates the exhibit, called Art for Peace, that opened last Feb. 9 and runs until the end of the month.

The mood over lunch of ensaladang talbos ng kamote, kare-kare and relyenong bangus is pleasantly rowdy and one has to be quick to catch the serious details in between banter and the endless crossing of arms over the spread of food. From one end, Wilson Ma tries to give a rundown of the group’s monthly itinerary, while in another corner, Ben Infante, Bing Siochi and Tony Varquez laugh about the curious relationship between a flat tire and a nude model. I hear Malang tell Anna Marcelo and Myra Caymar that the Crucible Gallery will curate the Saturday Group show for the first time, while Magoo complaints that Cris didn’t bring enough beer. After dessert, Saturday Group CEO King Verano explains "palindrome" to the young Mara Cruz while the rest of us go back to our easels and paints.