On the Works of Bert Monterona:
"Can a Man be a Feminist?"

By Alan Haig-Brown

I have heard it said that the feminist movement is a creation of western white middle class women and so does not serve the needs of women of colour and other women who do not share the same privileged place of those who do most of the writing and other creative work on the subject of feminism.

Another debate that has presented itself in relation to the topic of feminism argues the validity of men's place in expressing or professing feminist ideals. In short, "Can a man be a feminist?"

It has even been said that the export of western feminism is yet another example of western colonization.

Bert Monterona's newly opened exhibition at Simon Fraser University's art gallery in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver, opens up some large spaces for discussion about each of these contentions. A native of Mindanao in the Philippines with aboriginal blood and perspectives, Bert has created large canvases (They are actually cloth which he laughingly invites people to touch in contravention of gallery rules and etiquette) that tell the story of the colonization of Mindanao. Many of these recognize a history that has been expressed as "300 years in the Vatican and 50 years in Hollywood."

A wonderful example of the cultural genocide that accompanies colonization is included as a small part of one of Bert's typically large and complex tapestries. In the illustration, an indigenous Mindanao person holds an apple from which radiates the same illumination that we recognize from countless images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But it is not a heart, it is a red apple. The notes accompanying the picture explaining that no indigenous language has ever been taught in a school in Mindanao. At the same time, even though no apples grow in the Philippines, children are taught their ABCs with, "A is for Apple."

This is a smart critique of colonization in which one would hope Canadian viewers will recognize our own complicity through indigenous education in our country.

The huge importance of the issues of colonization have not limited Bert from commenting on the shamefully restricted role of women in Philippine culture. He avoids the simple traps of "honouring" women that generations of western artists have fallen into from the sweet Madonnas of the Renaissance to contemporary artists' nudes that seek to make women some exemplary but unattainable earth mother or sexual goddess. Bert shows women carrying the tools of their trade, from cooking pots to millinery shears, walking across a tight rope in a tenuous attempt to reach some stage where respect will reward them for their perseverance if not for their reality. The tight rope is a striking metaphor and condemnation of all men, western and Asian, who continue to allow this exploitation on all levels from gilded cages of marriage to the plastic opulence of the bordello.

"Can a man be a feminist?"

This privileged white western male won't attempt the answer, but I will admit to tears at Bert Monterona's vibrant expression of the issues.

Original article can be found here.

Photos by Alan Haig-Brown

On the Works of Bert Monterona: "Can a Man be a Feminist?"

On the Works of Bert Monterona:
"Can a Man be a Feminist?"