Baguio-based artist Roger Bibal is on a mission. One that has taken him as far as China—to bring the gains of bamboo from the mainland to Philippine shores.

Bibal came to Baguio in 1986, fresh from working on a 100-hectare farm with a group of Israeli consultants. An aquaculturist by profession, he developed inland fisheries and hatcheries before deciding to join the arts scene in the City of Pines. He was one of the original members of the Baguio Arts Guild, along with Ben Cab and the late Santi Bose. He acknowledges that he learned a lot from his father-in-law, Ibaloi visual artist Geoffrey Carantes: “He taught me [how to do] in-depth analysis of art forms.”

In the following years, Bibal produced different art works: sculptures, watercolors, pen and inks, and oil on canvass. But he has carved a niche for himself as a bamboo artist. He makes bamboo frames and sculptural and hanging lamps that are on display all over the province.

In 1996, he conducted a workshop during the Bamboo Festival in Baguio for close to a hundred art education teachers. He also conducted a workshop for artists in Bacolod during the 2004 Masskara Festival. In the same year, he conducted a workshop on papercraft for aetas at Clark. His work has been exhibited alongside Ben Hur Villanueva’s, and has been a part of regular shows by artists in the Cordillera.

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