Curatorial Notes

In Brenda Fajardo’s tarot, the figures resemble performers caught mid-gesture, holding tools, weapons, scales, or goods. Far from the ornate spectacle of traditional tarot, these images are flat, deliberately spare, and closer to folk illustration or didactic prints. The visible marks of the hand insist that images of power, justice, or sacrifice are historically produced and not universal truths.

Drawing from her studies in Philippine history, she translates social realities into symbolic form, using the tarot as an analytical device more than prophecy. By shifting the tarot from its European iconographic lineage to Filipino imagery, Fajardo asserts the affinity between image-making and divination.

–Carla Gamalinda

About the Artist

Brenda V. Fajardo (1940–2024) was a Filipino artist, stage designer, art educator, and curator. Her works drew on Philippine history and mythology, exploring the colonial past while addressing contemporary issues such as migration, human rights, political corruption, and women’s rights. She is the co-founder of Kasibulan (Kababaihan sa Sining at Bagong Sibol na Kamalayan, or Women in Art and Emerging Consciousness), Philippine Art Educators Association (PAEA), Baglan Community Cultural Initiatives; and as one of the pioneers of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA).

She obtained a Degree in Agriculture at the University of the Philippines - Los Baños, a master's degree in Art Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and followed by a PhD in Philippine studies from the University of the Philippines - Diliman. Among her awards in the visual arts, some of note are the Thirteen Artist Awards (1992), Centennial Awards for the Arts (1998), and the Gawad CCP (2012). Her works have been exhibited in Berlin, Brisbane, Cebu, Fukuoka, Gwangju, Havana, Manila, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Singapore. Her works are held in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (Japan) ; the Singapore Art Museum (Singapore); and the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (Australia).