Decorating a wall of the second level of Palma Hall un UP Diliman is the mural Isang Daang Taon sa Bukang-Liwayway by the collective artists of the University of the Philippines Artists’ Circle. Completed in 1996, it depicts historical figures in the country in the past hundred years.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
What remains of an art installation by Sulong Likha is a mural of a student (pictured), a farmer, a worker, a mother and child, indigenous peoples, and a cultural worker. The art collective explains that these sectors “are holding it all up for us; standing in a circle, sturdy and strong together, silent witnesses to the vagaries of existence.”
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
The museum gallery guard reads the label of the painting of Speaker Jose Laurel Jnr, who is staring at everything within view. I imagine the figure equally bored as the guard.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
At last, someone who takes time to read the museum labels instead of taking selfies inside the museum. He is actually taking photos of each label of the paintings. Displayed on the gallery wall are works by Jose Joya.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
They are both lovers and lovers of art.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
Museum-goers view Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo’s The Assassination of Governor Bustamante and His Son, which shares the gallery with Juan Luna’s Spoliarium. It was declared a National Cultural Treasure in the Philippines.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
Artistic depictions of Andres Bonifacio and Lapulapu adorn the pillars of Nagtahan flyover.
Photo by I.R. Arenas
This is an iconic representation of the Christ inside the Quiapo Church. The stream of light illuminates the area from above and seems to extend to the rays of light in the painting.
Photo by Wata Dugayo
Visual Tales 