VERA Files
Ligalig: Art in a Time of Threat and Turmoil is an exhibit on the social realist art movement, presenting the varied responses of Filipino artists who have persisted in exposing the ugly side of society. It runs at the Ateneo Art Gallery until May 29, 2022.
A creation myth in Philippine folklore, the Marcoses co-opted the Malakas at Maganda myth in the 1970s and anointed themselves as “the strong one” and “ the beautiful one” under “the new society.”
Critically endangered, Rafflesia species are under constant threat from widespread destruction and degradation of Philippine forests.
The newly opened Gallery Ninety at Berkeley School is among the latest must-stop-and-look places in Baguio City. Its inaugural exhibition features highlights from the body of works of foremost contemporary printmaker and former city resident Virgilio “Pandy” Aviado.
Early in the pages of Dr. Joseph Adrian L. Buensalido’s Mikrobyong Maliit, Pandemyang Pasakit: Ang Tinulang Salaysay ng Pandemyang COVID-19, there is a certificate attesting that the holder or owner of the slim volume of 72 pages has lived and survived during the time of the pandemic. In Filipino it states that “I am happy I went past this grim part of history. Many died and did not see the dawn on their native land.”
Amidst anxious times marked by the third year of the global pandemic and five weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, after a long closure, opens to the public with a group exhibition of the 2021 Thirteen Artists Awards. It runs until June 5, 2022.
The Collection of Jane Ryan and William Saunders: Jewelry in Augmented Reality by Pio Abad (b.1983, Manila) and jewelry designer Frances Wadsworth Jones is the inaugural exhibit of 21AM, the new digital museum of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Today, Philippine artisanal salts remain a niche product, an expensive one. And for those who actually buy it, it is considered as a chef’s delight, a gourmet pasalubong, or a foodie’s choice. Do get and enjoy some our artisanal salts, while it is still around.
The exhibit “When Salvaged Logs Bloom,” which is being held at two sites (Stall 9, Cubao X, General Romulo Ave., Cubao, Quezon City and Green Gate Gallery, Lluch Park, Palao, Iligan City) until March 6, reflects the dual face of nature and humankind: destruction and creation. It is also in parts an indictment of the violent nature of the Duterte Presidency. This fading regime has spawned extra-judicial killings (EJKs) and red-tagging during its brutal war on drugs and insurgency.
Former senator and human rights champion Jose W. Diokno, the man who “grieved for the death of the law” during the years of the Marcos dictatorship, must be grinning, wherever he is. On the occasion of Ka Pepe’s birth centenary on Feb. 26 and his 35th death anniversary on Feb. 27, the De La Salle University (DLSU), in a virtual program, renamed its College of Law into the Tañada-Diokno College of Law and the DLSU Publishing House launched his daughter Maria Socorro’s book Pamana.