If drawings lend themselves to the world as an artistic medium for one to experience discovery, an insight drawn from the radically hopeful imagination of John Berger, the drawings of the artist Lyra Garcellano in her just-concluded show at Finale Art File, titled Land, Labor, Life: Tracing ‘Progress’ in Selected Notes, expresses political despair, which,...
Category: Culture
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Discovering Clyfford Still, bold, brave, pioneering abstract expressionist
DENVER, COLORADO—As a fine arts graduate, I must confess that it was my first time to hear Clyfford Still’s name. Yes, I know the stalwarts of the Abstract Expressionist movement from Jackson Pollock to Mark Rothko to Helen Frankenthaler. But Still escaped my radar. And yet here he was, spoken with such ardor and respect...
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Some difficulty with Patricia Evangelista’s ‘Some People Need Killing’
More than two months have passed, and I still catch myself thinking of Patricia Evangelista’s book launch at Aldaba Recital Hall at the University of the Philippines Diliman. The event was dubbed as her homecoming, Evangelista being an alumnus of UP’s Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts. She and her book, “Some People Need...
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Pia Wurtzbach urges ‘allies’ to help fight for LGBTQIA+ rights
Pia Wurtzbach has been a staunch ally of the LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and others) community since her much-celebrated journey into pageantry. And nine years after she was crowned Miss Universe in 2015, the actress and global influencer is still advocating its cause. In welcoming Pride Month this June, Wurtzbach gallantly...
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A fresh look at Graciano Lopez Jaena’s heroic legacy
ILOILO CITY—On Independence Day on Wednesday (June 12), our thoughts dwell on the valor and dedication of heroes who fought for our freedom. For Ilonggos, among those who stand out is Graciano Lopez Jaena, not just as a revolutionary figure but a beacon of eloquence and intellect as well. As a tribute to the propagandist’s...
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The Santacruzan as a year-round spectacle
This isn’t a stale story or one may say, news. As a matter of fact, it is still taking place, and there’s no off-season. Consider this perhaps an extension of Mayflower festivities prevalent in the month of May. No matter, however; even though it’s already June, others may argue this is timeless. Rain or shine,...
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First Filipino of African American descent takes 2024 Miss Universe Philippines title
The prevailing beauty standards in the country were challenged and ultimately shattered at the 2024 Miss Universe Philippines pageant, which took all of five hours at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City and ended early morning of May 23. Chelsea Manalo, a 24-year-old model from Bulacan, bested 52 other aspirants to inherit the...
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Leonardo da Vinci in overwhelming view
MELBOURNE—These excerpts are from what is believed to be the world’s first résumé on record: “I have plans for light, strong and easily portable bridges… I can give complete satisfaction…in architecture and the construction of buildings public and private; and in conducting water from one place to another…. In case of need I will make...
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The heritage house, the choreographer, and the ballet
Archivist Purissima “Petty” Benitez-Johannot and her team have been looking after Helena’s house, cataloguing its contents since 2018. The house on Mariposa, Qùezon City, is MiraNila, ancestral home of the Benitez family; Helena is Helena Z. Benitez—educator, former senator, and founder of the Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU). Helena was...
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In Maguindanao, internally displaced women are empowered through agri-entrepreneurship
“I remember during Ramadan last year, at iftar—just as we were about to break our fast—suddenly we heard an explosion. We dropped and ran, carrying our food with us,” Salha Salik, who now lives in Shariff Saydona Mustapha, recalled in Tagalog during a phone interview. “It’s unpredictable here,” said Salik, 35. “Ever since I was...