Ferdinand Cacnio’s Uplift (2017) is a figure of a maiden suspended in the air, supported only through her voluminous hair. Some say the figure resembles the sculpture Oblation – closed eyes, serene countenance, outstretched arms, and bare – thus calling it the “female Oblation”.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
Undoubtedly basketball is the Philippines’ favourite sport. Crudely made backboards, like this one, are a common sight with barefoot, half-naked residents out for an afternoon game.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
Sometimes you wish you can fly and dance in the wind (but without any strings attached).
Photo by I.R. Arenas
The museum hall is enveloped by the mural (set in canvass) of Carlos “Botong” Francisco narrating the history of the country from precolonial to postwar times. The work, titled Filipino Struggles through History (1968), is the last major work of Francisco.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
These commuters are whiling the time away as they wait for the train which is running late.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
Guillermo Tolentino, a National Artist, is a master of his craft and a defender of conservatism in Philippine sculpture. Here is Venus (1951), made from plaster of paris, exuding the classic qualities of feminine beauty.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
Nearly a year ago, Dulaang UP staged the premiere of Angry Christ premiered at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theatre in UP Diliman. It was an exploration of how Alfonso Ossorio, a Filipino painter of cosmopolitan background, conceived arguably his most ambitious mural in a chapel located in a sugarcane hacienda owned by his family. Playwright Floy Quintos delved into the mind of the artist, speculating much about his identity, homosexuality, and artistry. Actor Nel Gomez starred as Ossorio.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
Visual Tales 