Chronicler

Mark Justiniani is interested in issues concerning history. As a young artist from a country with a colonial legacy, questions about the self, identity and society abound. This intrigue is apparent in this present lot Chronicler. The vestiges of colonialism are discernible in the work as represented by the portly westerner, outfitted with sharp features, a top hat and smart shoes with a knapsack of books and scrolls, frantically scribbling with his feathered pen. He stands atop on the shoulders of the barefoot, lesser clothed, tanned and brawn (Filipino) person reading studiously a book made up very possibly from the very pages that are floating down from the writer above. The scene suggests how history is recorded and passed on from generation to generation and more impertinently questions from whose perspective? Chronicler is presented in an almost child-like manner with cheery predominant colours and the mood whimsical, belying the profound undertones.