You will want to get lost in this bookstore in Naga City

A bookstore is never just a bookstore. It houses millions of worlds and stories amidst all the pages and trinkets. And that is what Savage Mind in Naga City, Bicol is all about.

It was founded by Kristian Sendon Cordero, a The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) 2022 awardee, poet, filmmaker, and writer — achievements all before the age of 40.

The bookshop is home to books, art, and cinema, and is pretty much a hub of culture.

According to Cordero, the name came from the book “The Savage Mind” by Claude Levi-Strauss which he read while taking his master's.

“Mahalaga sa akin 'yung experience ko ng pagbabasa ng kanyang libro dahil na rin siguro sa malay ko sa kasaysayan ng pananakop natin na madalas ang mga taong nasakop ay tinatawag na primitibo, mga savage mind,” he said on “The Howie Severino Podcast.”

He added that the savage mind is not like the rational mind that only thinks of two sides, but is filled with multi-rationalities and gray areas.

The name also moves away from the known meanings of savage, such as barbaric, brutal, or violent.

“Kasi nasanay tayo mismo roon sa punto de vista ng mananakop kaya yung pag-iisip sa savage na barbaric, na kakaiba, actually that's the colonized mind. So kailangan nating baguhin,” Cordero said.

“Sa karanasan ko ng pagsusulat sa paglapit ko sa wikang Bicol, ito 'yung mga bagay na napagtanto ko, na-realize ko na when you write in your language, may automatic feeling ka na mag-review ng iyong kasaysayan, mag-review ng klase ng iyong pag-iisip,” he added.

Given these influences, Savage Mind is an eclectic bookshop with a wide range of books, from foreign ones to Filipiniana, plus history, literature, and poetry in a variety of languages.

However, it is not organized in a conventional way.

“I think 'yun 'yung pinaka-gift ng independent bookshops. 'Yung mayroon kang karanasan ng discovery na 'yun 'yung pleasure ng pagpunta sa isang bookshop na hindi mo alam 'yung hinahanap mo and then, all of a sudden, you are driven to this particular book or to this particular corner,” Cordero said.

This is what he hopes visitors of Savage Mind can experience — “na maraming puwedeng portals na pasukin.”

He said, “Parang bahay-kubo natin na in this kind of diversity, in this kind of multiplicity, ikaw 'yung maghahanap ng mga ugnayan ng mga bagay-bagay. 'Yung loob mo, 'yung sarili mo ang mag-co-connect the dots," he said. “At sa tingin ko 'yun 'yung pinakamalaking biyaya ng passion ng isang independent bookshop katulad ng Savage Mind na binibigyan ka ng pagkakataong bumalik sa isang labirinto.”

Kristian emphasized that getting lost is a good adventure too.
 
“You have to find yourself getting lost from time to time para hindi laging kalkulado ang mga step mo, rasyonal, ika nga,” the multi-hyphenate said. “Dahil in one way or another, we are trying also to promote a new kind of sensibility, a new kind of time, a new sense of time.”

He added that bookshops are places where time and the world seem to stop, so they kept this idea when they were conceptualizing the store.
 
“Noong binuo namin ang Savage Mind, isa ito sa mga inaasam namin na magkaroon ng panahon 'yung mga bata na sumaglit muna, kumuha muna ng ilang sandali at makitagpo hindi lamang sa kapwa tao kundi sa mga libro, mga kung anu-ano,” he said.

Listen to Kristian Sendon Cordero’s full interview on “The Howie Severino Podcast” on Spotify. —JCB, GMA Integrated News