Gino Gonzales: Inside The Creative Mind

He is one of the most sought after scenographers of our time, lauded for his ability to come up with unique ideas that break the mould of production design as we know it. Gino Gonzales allows MJ Jose a peek into his well thought out wonderland

The space behind the red curtain tells the story of a world that is both ours and not ours. It is a tavern of treasures long-forgotten, where an assortment of furniture, textiles, stoneware, ceramics, and other precious objects—on loan from friends, Ayala Museum itself, and the exhibitors’ own collections—from around Asia provides the backdrop for these intricate works of art, which celebrate the Philippines’ complex heritage and the culture it shares with its South East Asian neighbours. The Gold In Our Veins exhibition (which ran from 21 February to 26 May) was, indeed, otherworldly. This comes as no surprise, as it was the Midas touch of acclaimed scenographer Gino Gonzales that helped bring this storied installation to life.

“I have always been attracted to pomp and pageantry,” says Gonzales who, as a child, was enamoured with the changing installations at Philtrade and the Cultural Centre of the Philippines (CCP) grounds. “Roughly around the same time, I developed an obsession with robots due to the popularity of the Japanese anime Voltes V. It is this fascination with machinery and transformations that gave me an aptitude for technical work, which is an essential skillset to have when designing for the stage.”