Roy Voragen & Czyka Tumaliuan
Suppose that print is well on its way to extinction: with today’s band of movements advocating for sustainability and minimalism, it’s hard to ignore the impending tilt towards a paperless economy; so why the exhaustion of books?
As the KonMari Method sweeps the world with its mission to purge our lives of clutter and jumble, memes from bibliophiles concurrently flood the internet in retaliation to this one blasphemous tip: ideally, limit your books to a collection of thirty; or better yet, less. While Kondo champions the quest to make room, there is a book bar that contrastingly seeks to fill our shelves with pages. In resistance to fake news and clamor, Kwago is battling to keep the library afloat. In spite of an age where hype aggressively devours substance, there persists a cozy hideaway housing knowledge from silent teachers bound by spine. Occasionally rallying voices hushed or muffled, Kwago aims to nurture empathy through the aid of reading. Part library, part store, part café, the unkempt but charming book bar greets the curious at the doorstep of Warehouse Eight.
Contrary to popular opinion, Kwago’s co-owner Czyka Tumaliuan, challenges the notion that print is obsolete or dead. “I think the rise of PDF’s or e-books make people yearn for the tangible experience of print. A lot of us are looking for something to touch, for something real. It may be the body’s rebellion against technology’s hyper-pragmatism—the everything-has-to-be-efficient-and-functional mindset,” the librarian asserts.
Photos — Kir Ubungen
Czyka Tumaliuan & Karl Gaverza
“There’s just this beautiful and addictive intimacy that comes with reading a physical book that its digital counterpart can’t easily clone.” But it’s not what you think: this self-proclaimed fan girl of sci-fi affirms that her library is not at all in rivalry with technology. “Kwago wants people to read, to make them fall in love with literature so they can innovate and create human-biased solutions to existing problems. We want to provide access to that knowledge, and because technology helps democratize the distribution of information, Kwago aspires to cultivate its relationship with the medium—to understand it, to master it; thus, the birth of a project entitled KOPYA—a digital open shelf where we store and archive books, leaving it free and accessible to anyone with a device to connect to.”
While books allow us to retrieve information, it’s the author’s inner world that grants us a surreal experience. This vast space where we can witness the universe from another being’s eyes. Inviting readers to suspend disbelief, a book momentarily quiets our opinions so that the storyteller’s can breathe. Silencing the chatter, the act of reading leaves us no choice but to listen. Czyka believes that when done over and over again, empathy is consequently developed. Books foster the capacity to place ourselves in another’s shoes—to open ourselves up to alternate perspectives without necessary agreement. When we plop ourselves onto a corner with solely a book in hand, we still ourselves liberated from the distractions of the online world; and only by this calm and focus can we be fully absorbed in a story.
With a vision to bring a library in every creative community in the Philippines, Kwago continuously works with equally passionate individuals and organizations to create programs that nurture a deep love for reading. In homage to imagination and possibility, I asked Czyka to name the most unlikely space she could dream of bringing a library to. “I would say a prison, but it actually makes sense to have a library there. Maybe Mars. I believe that human beings are not alone in the universe, so we can maybe introduce ourselves to other species thru books. I would love to curate a shelf that reflects our history as a race. This way, they can figure out how to communicate with us and to find ways to connect and possibly help us. I’d like for them to fall in love with how we are as a people.”
Tad Ermitaño
Speaking of curating shelves, Kwago had most recently launched a special program that spatially spotlights a piece of furniture (for its read content), displaying a series of publications that have helped shaped a featured personality’s inner world, “A Curated Shelf” invites readers to occupy another’s mind through its set of open books.
In its first and most recent installment, there currently rests a collection of books assembled by polymath Tad Ermitaño, but in ode to Kwago’s mainstay of fiction-inspired drinks, I requested the librarian, Czyka, to playfully curate a selection of five personalities they would interestingly welcome on the shelf—both non-fiction and fiction based.
Nikola Tesla – Tesla is one of my favorite innovators, an electrical and mechanical engineer who invented the alternating current motor and developed AC generation and transmission technology, this futurist brought electricity to the homes of consumers. He’s just a brilliant, voracious reader so much so that he craved to consume all the books in his university library. The man barely slept.
Dr. Shevek – The main protagonist in Ursula Le Guin’s novel Dispossessed, Shevek was a well-read physicist and anarchist. In the book, he was convinced that numbers were more trustworthy and reliable in terms of language and communication. I’d like to know what he read so I can grapple with his thoughts.
Ava Lovelace – Lovelace was a mathematician and writer who worked with Charles Babbage, the man who created the first computer. A huge fan of his work, she was the first to recognize the practical potential of the machine—one that span beyond applications of calculation. Her father was a poet; gosh, what did she read?
Lisa Simpson – She’s so smart and funny. Constantly firing quick-witted thoughts without a filter, she just doesn’t care about what others think. What a geek. I’d like to know what she’d recommend.
Tyrion Lannister – Definitely one of my favorite characters in Game of Thrones. Despite experiencing a gratingly realistic world shadowed with greed and manipulation, he somehow manages to remain warm and genuine; but never naïve. His power lying in his love for books edged with a razor-sharp mind, Tyrion’s humor and cleverness subtly catches people off-guard, often leading them to yield without force. With such a brilliant, sophisticated intellect, I’m dying to know which books lay hidden in his arsenal.
The Book Bar at Warehouse Eight is designed to help us discover new ideas and understand the pulse of the local literary and arts landscape. To keep yourself posted on Kwago’s latest happenings, follow their story — isipkwago.com or @isipkwago.
