Archive - Arts & Culture

What is the first thing you reach for when you wake up in the morning? Is it your cell phone? Then do you quickly scroll down your news feed?

There is a lot that a curious observer can find in the 144-page book called “Servant Leader” by Prof. Edmundo “Ed” Garcia.

If there is anything this pandemic has taught people, it is that life is short, and we are all going to die.

At the recent “Stories from Viber Communities: Growing Your Brand During a Crisis” virtual roundtable, Viber gathered Beverly Ho of the Department of Health (DOH), Joaquin San Agustin of SM Supermalls, Christina Lao of MacDonald’s Philippines and Brigette Villarin of the Inquirer Group of Companies to share how they became part of the Communities on Viber.

While revisiting the food policies and practices during the Commonwealth period and World War II, culinary historian Felice P. Sta. Maria warned the public that if the Marikina or West Valley Fault moves again, another huge crisis of starvation and hunger will happen.

It’s all about making your five senses help you in the dim seasons of your lives. All it takes is to be present for at least four minutes and 11 seconds for you to climb out whole and intact.

Jessica Zafra has been known for her sardonic prose in her columns, particularly her film criticism, and her short fiction. So yes, it’s high time she came out with a novel that reflects that hers is THE ultimate voice of her generation.

Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu got back on the opera stage October 3 with a triumphant role debut in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliet mounted at the Magdeburg Opera House in Germany.

Some good things come out of a pandemic. Such is the case of Szkornik and Neil, a farm-café carved by the hills of Igbical in Hamtic town, south of Antique. Barely two weeks after it formally opened to the public, the café is now turning down walk-ins, limiting their daily reservations to only 25 guests. May it be a snob-appeal strategy to rouse the curiosity of the hoi polloi forever seeking instagrammable spots, or in observance of the pandemic protocols, it surely is working to their advantage, and boosting Antique’s claim to being tourism’s rising star in the region.

Almost three months into the Covid-19 lockdown, with museums, theaters, and other art spaces still closed — the opening of Silverlens Gallery's first online only exhibit, Anticipating the Day, has bravely tested the new reality of art exhibits under quarantine. With 21 artists, it consists of 60 works, an eclectic mix of oil on canvas, collage, assemblage, video, and photography. To view the exhibit at your own pace, go to Silverlens Gallery's website.

Cho Il-hyung gets #Alive to magnify the new reality we all have to deal with amid the COVID-19 pandemic — isolation, loneliness, and survival.

Are opera productions going back to normal? After six months of lockdown in Manila, tenor Arthur Espiritu gets back to the opera stage with a role debut in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliet at the Magdeburg Opera House in Germany.

Reading Danton Remote’s “Riverrun” during the lockdown is an exercise in reviewing national consciousness.

Tenor Tomy Umberto Virtucio and baritone Darwin Lomentigar are collaborating in a free live-streaming concert called “Back to Love” on Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. as a way of easing those suffering from pandemic stress and anxieties. Their music hopefully will transform these feelings into something more beautiful and positive.

After the ground-breaking Kulinarya: A Guidebook to Philippine Cuisine by Glenda R. Barretto et al, many cookbooks have since been published but none as portable, as informative and as colorfully and prettily illustrated as the newly released Kain Na! An Illustrated Guide to Philippine Food.

With Jamaican-Indian-American Kerala Harris as the just announced US vice presidential bet, it is a good time to focus on women of mixed races making it big on the world stage. British-Bangladeshi Nadiya Hussain is one such rising chef and a most appealing one she is as borne by the seven-part Netflix series Nadiya’s Time to Eat.

Misty, the 2018 drama that marked the comeback of lead actress Kim Nam Joo, is a polished Korean gem that has the viewer hanging by a thread, unsure of the real murderer even after the 14th out of 16th episode is aired.

He plays to humongous, sold-out theaters and arenas in mainland US and Hawaii—this bald-headed Fil-Am stand-up comedian who answers to the name of Jo Koy, a pet name for Josep (pronounced with a Filipino accent and without the “ph” sound by his mother). His specials, available for streaming in Netflix, must come with the warning: Buckle your seatbelts and prepare for an hour of laughing out loud until tears are streaming down your eyes.

Luisa Aguilar Igloria, formerly of Baguio City, has just been named Poet Laureate of Virginia. In May this year, she was informed by Henry Hart, immediate past Poet Laureate of Virginia and member of the board of the Poetry Society of Virginia, that her nomination for Poet Laureate had moved forward along with two other poets to the short list.

Nobody, not even the late great Michael Jackson, has done what Barbra Streisand has: bring home the Oscar, the Grammy, the Emmy and other major awards and lasting in the public consciousness for over five decades. Hollywood may have snubbed her directorial feat (not to mention her starring role) in Yentl, but it sat up and took sharp notice when she debuted in the musical biography of comedienne Fanny Brice, Funny Girl.

Is there anything special to life, especially after one has reached the autumn and winter years? Take it from the 90-year old grandmother in the Korean drama Dear My Friends who tells her writer granddaughter, “There’s nothing special to life.”

Exactly a year after he took over as the new mayor of Pasig City, Vico Sotto made a comprehensive report on his first 365 days in office.

During the lockdown that has been a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, another monster reared its head. Incidences of rape and domestic violence went up during this period as women and girls were trapped in the home with their abusers.

Batman has his Batcave and the Avengers have the Stark Tower. Filipino artists are no different.