The Pulitzer Center Presents: 'If the Walls Can Talk' Art Exhibit

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Manila, November 29, 2024— Even a patch of trees holds countless stories, each tree a city. Pulitzer Center grantees, artists, and changemakers will tell the stories of Philippine flora and fauna and how you can help protect them in "If The Walls Can Talk," an art exhibit opening on December 12 at the historic First United Building in the heart of Old Manila’s Escolta District.   

According to Pulitzer Center-supported reporting, the Philippines was once blanketed by lush forests spanning 27.5 million hectares—over 90% of the country’s total land area—prior to colonization. However, centuries of population growth, land conversion, and the absence of a unified forest policy have drastically reduced this coverage. By the end of American rule, forest cover had dwindled to 15.8 million hectares, dropping further to 10.6 million hectares before Martial Law was declared in 1972. Following the People Power Revolution in 1986, it shrank even more, reaching just 6.4 million hectares. Despite reforestation efforts dating back to the 1910s, the country's forest cover has struggled to recover, stabilizing at an average of under seven million hectares today.   

Recent super-typhoons, with their unusual timing extending well beyond the rainy season, have sparked growing discussions among Filipinos about deforestation. We hope these conversations go beyond the immediate loss of trees and greenery and expand to address the broader implications: how deforestation fuels climate change, threatens livelihoods, endangers lives and property, and causes lasting harm to future generations of Filipinos and the global ecosystem. 

Three Filipino artists—Eunice Sanchez, Kookoo Ramos-Cruda, and Resty Flores—will showcase works inspired by the Pulitzer Center’s Climate Crisis Reporting. Through various mediums, their creations will explore critical issues surrounding Philippine rainforests.  

“Journalism, like art, sheds light on critical issues,” shares Intan Febriani, Director of International Education and Outreach, “such as rainforest protection. As urbanization rises, we must acknowledge that forests are essential—they provide food, reduce carbon emissions, and support biodiversity. In the "If the Walls Can Talk" art exhibition, Filipino artists engage with investigative journalism supported by the Pulitzer Center, expressing concerns about deforestation and the expansion of mining. This event fosters a dialogue between journalism and art, inspiring action to protect our forests and demand accountability.”  

Organizer Veejay Villafranca shares his rationale behind the show: “Street art takes its roots from dissent and revolutions. In today’s highly visual landscape, we harness said roots of street artists in taking the message to the streets: the state of the Philippines’ natural environment. This will hopefully instigate not just conversations but a wider movement.”  

We cordially invite you to the media vernissage at 1:00 PM, December 12, 2024 at the First United Building, Escolta, Manila for an immersive experience where art will populate not just the interiors, but the grounds as well. Light snacks will be provided.  

The exhibition is part of the #ShowMeYourTree campaign, a call to action for everyone living in Southeast Asia and beyond to defend our vital rainforests.

For further inquiries, contact Pao Vergara on WhatsApp, Viber, or Telegram at +63 927 207 7577 

About Pulitzer Center

The Pulitzer Center is a nonprofit journalism and education organization dedicated to elevating public engagement with systemic, underreported global issues. 
We provide over 200 grants each year to freelance and staff journalists, photographers, and filmmakers to pursue their reporting projects, in collaboration with news outlets around the world.  

About 98B COLLABoratory  

As an independent, artist-run space in Escolta, Manila, 98B serves as a platform for critical discourse, experimentation, and the presentation of contemporary art in the Philippines.  

As a multidisciplinary art laboratory, the space fosters convergence among artists, designers, curators, writers, musicians, filmmakers, activists, educators, researchers, cultural workers, performers, architects, and students with the goal of engaging our immediate networks and offering accessible art experiences to reach a diverse audience and contribute actively to the contemporary art scene through innovative projects.  

About the organizer        

Veejay Villafranca has a photojournalist practice spanning 20 years, focused on issues of peace-building, environmental issues, technology, women and children’s health, amongst others. He has worked with The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Politico, LA Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, and Newsweek. Villafranca was also the Philippine correspondent for Getty Images Global Assignments and Bloomberg News covering the Asian region. He has also collaborated with development agencies like the UN WFP, UNDP, UNICEF, UN FAO, European Union, Action Against Hunger, IOM, and Greenpeace International. 

About the curator  

LK Rigor’s practice orbits the spheres of photography and archiving in the form of writing, researching, and curating. She recently participated as a Southeast Asian fellow in the 2024 Professional Exchange Program organized by Taiwan Art Space Alliance and Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation. She is currently one of the curators of 98B COLLABoratory. She curated her first exhibit at the Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation, Inc. where she also works as a coordinator. Her writing is published in ArtAsiaPacific, Cartellino, and WritingFoto.  

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About the artists  

Eunice Sanchez (b. 1993) art practice focuses on exploring preservation and perception through photography and alternative photographic processes. Her work often intersects with textiles, installation, and video; turning her art as means for memory-keeping and Storytelling. Aside from the Philippines, she has also exhibited in Cambodia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.   

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Kookoo Ramos-Cruda (b. 1990) is a Filipina street artist and painter. Kookoo’s steady practice proves that motherhood cannot stop you from working on your passion—on the contrary, it can help you arrive at a deeper appreciation of your work. Since joining Pilipinas Street Plan in 2009, her primary art form, murals, allowed her to cement a reputation within the local art scene.

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Resty Flores’ (b. 1990) work is grounded in close community and organizing work, often with the urban poor, farmers, and national minorities as part of Prints Para Sa Bayan and Sining Kadamay. He presents his shared experiences in various mediums such as mural, painting, printmaking, drawing and sculpture. Resty also explores other media, such as printmaking and relief printing using wood and rubber.