Bulaklak
2020
Performance for the Camera
45:52 min
Filmed by Peppercorn Imagine
Bulaklak enacts a ritual of preparing and devouring 100 mango flowers, a fruit which grounds her in familial and cultural histories. The performance draws on two Filipino songs from the artist’s childhood, both titled Bulaklak (flower in the Tagalog language). The songs have contrasting messages; Kuh Ledesma’s Bulaklak is a sweet love song with Ledesma singing about a beautiful flower, while the Viva Hot Babes’ Bulaklak is overtly sexual, using a flower as a metaphor for the vagina. Through performances like Bulaklak, Abuel contemplates what it means to be a Filipina. She creates personal meditations on matriarchal roles and sacrifices to both honour and reclaim the traditions she’s inherited.