Paraisado Azul

Jose Tence Ruiz re-imagines the humble kariton, the cart used by the urban poor in Manila for trade and survival, as a cathedral adorned with gothic spires and towers. In this work, made in collaboration with Danilo Ilag-Ilag, Ruiz considers the suggestion that religion is perhaps the “opiate of the masses.” Here Catholicism’s emphasis on the redemptive aspect of suffering serves a compensatory function, by which the marginalised can justify and accept the structural imbalances in society. The work questions further the extent that religion’s traditional values have been institutionalised across all social classes, hindering any meaningful political or social transformation from occurring.