Noji Bajet is the 2023 awardee for the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prizes in Art Criticism. His essay “Ang Pagong sa Kalye Pergolese” was the outs/tanding piece for the Filipino category, which earned him the opportunity to have his written work published by the publication partners of the awarding body.

Noji’s final output explores the idea of being a “stranger” in two forms of contemporary art: socially engaged art and art exploration. It looks at Filipino artist Aeson Baldevia’s Chance Encounters exhibition in Bacolod City, featuring his telephone booth project, and Japanese artist Tappei Noguchi’s Panay Walk exhibition in Roxas City, which documented his circumnavigation of Panay Island. By examining both the artists’ creative process and the symbolic outcomes of their works, the essay reflects on how each confronts the experience of being a stranger within a community. Ultimately, it considers how these encounters reshape social connections and what they reveal about being human today.

Read Mga Estranghero sa Negros at Panay:Ang Sining ni Aeson Baldeviaat Tappei Noguchi through the link below.