PITONG PARALUMAN SA TABING KALSADa

This project is a collaboration with the pasalubong shops along Kalye Mayor,a street-based installation that brings together Pitong Paraluman and street life.

The word paraluman, meaning muse, recalls a celebrated Filipina actress from Tayabas in the 1940s. Immortalized in the Eraserheads’ classic song, paraluman conjures unpretending beauty, but one that is gently withheld, if not wrapped in enigma.

Pitong Paraluman reflects on inspiration—the kind whose presence reveals itself in time. Here, the seven paraluman take the form of tabing drawn as the shops’ awnings. For most of the day, they remain unseen, folded into the everyday rhythm of the street. Yet in the mid-afternoon, when the sunlight strikes at a certain angle, or when rain begins to fall, they quietly emerge, like rare flowers. In this way, the work suggests that inspiration lingers at the edges—unclaimed by those who chase it, yet gently revealing itself to those who learn to see.

Presented in May—a month associated with Flores de Maria and honoring mothers—the work also gestures toward everyday acts of care, creativity, and sustenance within the community. Rather than separating art from daily life, the installation moves with it along Kalye Mayor. It offers a simple invitation to look more closely and to find inspiration in places where it quietly resides—along the street, in passing moments, and in the familiar made visible. Text by LP Abellanosa