Justiniani, 
          Borlongan and Flores eventually formed their own collective, Sanggawa, 
          with artists Federico Sievert, Joy Mallari, and Emmanuel Garibay. In 
          contrast to Salingpusa's interactive mode of painting where different 
          styles are wittingly mixed in one work, Sanggawa members strive to mix 
          their individual styles to create one work (hence, the name isang gawa) 
          that appears to be executed by one artist. The raison d' etre of collective 
          work is to counteract Western art's cult of the individual artist. Furthermore, 
          Sanggawa's highly political subjects differ from those of Salingpusa's 
          scenes of contemporary life, thus marking them out as a new group and 
          not merely an extension of the previous one. Discourses have multiplied 
          in the late 90's as concerns have diversified and the field of probing 
          grows wider. Gender issues, women's issues and environmentalism have 
          become the subjects of many artists and artists groups. Brenda Fajardo, 
          a leader in the women artists group, Kasibulan, initially worked along 
          the lines of social realist modes of representation. Later, in her Tarot 
          Card series she has created didactic spaces with paper and ink that 
          directly comment on historical events, especially women's history by 
          juxtaposing folk tarot images and historical scenes. Conclusion: Philippines 
          at the Crossroads The diversity of form, style and discourse in Philippine 
          Contemporary Art is a result of the intense soul-searching of the 1980's. 
          With the expansion of art's scope into anthropology and history, more 
          discursive methods and artistic processes where needed. The previously 
          dominant visual language associated with 70's "high art" has made significant 
          contributions to the process of decoding and deconstructing the culture. 
          Conceptual art, although seen as a superfluous discipline in the previous 
          decade, is being integrated into contemporary art making in the Philippines. 
          Another significant cause of this plurality is the increased awareness 
          of the artists' status in the society. Marginalized artists in the provinces 
          have raised questions about the privileges of Manila-based artists. 
          This bias was challenged by the rise of Visayan artists in the early 
          80's and the increasing number of art activities in regions outside 
          of Manila. The Baguio Arts Guild in the north and the Black Artists 
          of Asia, VIVA and ExCon in the south became legitimate venues of art 
          discourse in the later years. Artists from these regions such as Nunelucio 
          Alvarado, Norberto Roldan Charlie Co, Dennis Ascalon, Roberto Villanueva, 
          Willy Magtibay, John Frank Sabado and Kidlat Tahimik a.k.a. Eric de 
          Guia are slowly integrating their discourses into the new mainstream. 
          Artists are hoping these developments will resonate in more provinces 
          and generate a collective impetus for determining a truly Filipino expression. 
          Ronald Hilario paints, sculpts, and does freelance writing. He has been 
          working for the Ayala Museum as an art teacher since 1997. He organized 
          and coordinated the Philippine Art Awards 1998, the local leg of the 
          regional ASEAN Art Awards, which includes Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, 
          Singapore, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. He does research on contemporary 
          Philippine art and he plans to concentrate on this work in the near 
          future.