The celebrated Filipino children’s author René O. Villanueva once wrote a legend on parenting. In a preface to his collection of stories and plays, Tiktipaklong (1987), he composed a brief account of how children used to reside on the summit of the highest mountain, behind the firmament, as fully realized humans annulled from the Piagetian...
Category: Arts
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When will curators write again?
BERLIN—I met a guy who likes to date curators. “Why do you guys like Commes des Garçons?” he blurted out as he walked out of the toilet. He reached for the water bottle on the bedside table and replenished himself with its entire contents, with compliments to the hotel. Prodding me as if it were...
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Ayala Foundation announces appointment of Reuben Keehan as artistic director of Kontempo
Ayala Foundation has announced the appointment of Reuben Keehan as artistic director of Kontempo, the forthcoming center for contemporary art in Circuit Makati. Keehan is relocating to the Philippines from Australia, where he has served as curator of contemporary Asian art at Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art since 2011. He has played a central...
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From blade to bark, Gustavo Montero makes art from nature
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—Gustavo Montero is an Ibaloi artist and artisan who is contributing to the preservation and increased awareness of indigenous arts beyond his native province of Benguet. It all started in 2009, when Montero first became interested in Kali, the Filipino martial art that involves hand and body movements and the use of bladed weapons. He...
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He learned photography without training
It is a matter of pride for geodetic engineer Efren Ricalde that he learned photography through trial and error. When he got the hang of it, he chose to document mass actions or rallies, to do unposed portraits of activists, and to enjoy being right in the middle of things, even at the risk of being clobbered. Ricalde’s early interest in photography began when...
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Savoring the last morsel (as though on ‘Pakaskas’)
How does one desperately savor the last morsel when our planet stands on the brink of global disaster? But do not we savor the morsel on the pretext of absolute disappearance of plenitude? Is the savoring of a morsel always portentous to the irretrievable end of wealth, fertility, and resources? Savoring the last morsel of...
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‘A sharp bite in its unassuming quiet’
“Moon Hanging Low Over My Window and Other Poems,” a book of poetry written by Babeth Lolarga and published by UST Publishing House, will be available for pre-orders starting Aug. 1. Readers who will pre-order via Shopee will get the title for a special price of ₱520. The pre-order link will be made available when the...
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Cinemalaya: back with a vengeance
Through the years since 2005, the Cinemalaya festival, a project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), has been providing the more discerning moviegoers—many of them young people—some memorable films. During that first year, one of the independently produced movies in the full-length category was “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros.” It did not win...
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An open letter to the next CCP artistic director
Dear Colleague, “Break a leg!” for taking on what could be the best arts management post in the country. I wish you the most fulfilling time as you immerse in the hundreds of arts-related activities during your tenure. You will have the great fortune of experiencing and learning from hundreds of “live” shows in the...
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Fire at the ‘National Theater’
The photos taken by professional and amateur photographers on June 17 told the disheartening story: The grande dame Manila Metropolitan Theater, or simply the Met, one of the cultural shrines of the antebellum period (along with the Manila Grand Opera House), fronting Liwasang Bonifacio—don’t call it Lawton—was on fire. Smoke billowed from the first floor...