Friday, March 29, 2024

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Mga Tomasino pinarangalan sa 13 Artists Awards

MAPANGUTYA at mapanlaban sa kanilang mga point of view, halatang may bahid din pala ng pagka-rebelde ang dugo ng mga Tomasinong artista matapos maparangalan ang dalawang alumni mula sa College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD) sa nakaraang 13 Artists Awards sa Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) noong ika-siyam ng Hulyo.

Inihahandog ng isang beses kada tatlong taon, kinilala sa 13 Artists sina Buen Calubayan at Raul Ignacio “Iggy” Rodriguez bilang dalawa sa mga pinakatanyag na pausbong na mga lokal na artista, dala ng kanilang mga obrang lumilihis sa tradisyonal na gawi ng sining.

Pagbabalik-tanaw kay Sto. Domingo

UPANG mabigyan halaga ang kontribusyon at kaarawan ni Santo Domingo, nagdaos ang UST-Dominican Network (DOMNET) Youth Group ng isang exhibit na nagngangalang Light of...

CINEMALAYA Cinco

FOR THE first time, a comedy won the grand prize in the the Cinemalaya Film Festival, the annual showcase of independent movies. Last Supper No. 3, a farce about what its filmmakers, Veronica Velasco and Jinky Laurel, claim is a true incident, an extended legal wrangling over a lost Last Supper print, beat more popular favorites, including Astig, a cinema-verite-style tale of Manila’s seamy underbelly which, during the awards night on July 26, had early on been winning the most awards, such as best director (Giuseppe Sampedro), best sound, and best supporting actor (Arnold Reyes). Some considered Last Supper’s triumph as an upset.

Thomasians in the indie film scene

DESPITE the absence of a film education program, UST has produced a number of filmmakers who have contributed to the vibrancy of the Philippine independent cinema, such as Gil M. Portes, who predated indie filmmaking by some 30 years (his first movie, Tiket Mama, Tiket Ale, Sa Linggo ang Bola, starring Gina Pareno and Eddie Garcia, was independently produced in 1976; so was his internationally acclaimed Munting Tinig in 2002), Michiko Yamamoto (writer of the award-winning Magnifico, Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros, and Endo), and of course, Brillante Mendoza, who was named best director in this year’s Cannes international film festival and was honored by the Cinemalaya this year with the special screening of his Serbis, which became last year the first Filipino movie in a quarter of a century to break into the Cannes competition.

Short in length but long on substance

THE SHORT movies in competition were very engaging. Borgy Torres’ Bonsai, which won the Cinemalaya best short film, is about an obese security guard trying to woo a washerwoman. For a short space of 20 minutes (the limit in the competition), it manages to draw from the audience varied emotions of repulsion, interest, and heartbreak.

The Special Jury Award as runner-up best film went to Thomasian Rommel “Milo” Tolentino’s Blogog, which, like his celebrated Andong (last year’s grand prize winner), is another charming take on Pinoy childhood. It is about a boy who finds a filthy ball in the creek that tosses by itself and can even teleport. The seeming magical ball conjures the magic and yearnings of childhood.

Dexter Cayanes won the best director for Musa, about Tatang, an old man who can miraculously heal wounds, and Bienvenido, who desires revenge against people who oppress women and homosexuals. The film is noted for its poetry and power.

Mining the hidden gold in music

My mom once told me that my first awareness of music had dated back more or less four weeks before my expected date of delivery. Mom could not understand why she was gasping for breath when lying flat in bed. She said I was “relentlessly” moving and squirming inside her womb. My eight-year-old sister, who by then already knew how to play the guitar, got her favorite instrument and sat by her side to sing for mom the latter’s favorite piece, in order to console her and lull her to sleep. When my sister was about to sing she accidentally strummed her guitar. Its sound amazingly calmed the baby down inside her womb and pretty soon, she fell asleep.

Giving glamour to glass

Ramon OrlinaGLASS was generally considered as merely “decorative” until Thomasian sculptor Ramon Orlina came, got his hands on some discarded fragments, and turned it into a new artistic medium.

In his exhibit titled Glass and Bronze held last June 18 at the Alliance Francaise de Manille, Orlina celebrated more than three decades of upholding the luster and value of glass.

“Glass is a very strong material. Before, people only used it for decoration, but I was able to evolve it into an art form,” Orlina told the Varsitarian.

A College of Architecture and Fine Arts graduate in 1965, Orlina moved into greater heights during the mid-70s by becoming the only sculptor in the Philippines and in the whole ASEAN region to successfully apply the cold method of glass sculpting, a process which virtually eliminates cracks.

“Studying Architecture in UST gave me a discipline, from finishing my work on time and dedicating myself to my craft,” Orlina said.

Revamping ethnic heritage

Jane Arrieta-Ebarle’s exhibit featured eleven of her paintings including the “Ethnic Maranao” (left) and “Maranao 6” (right). Photos by J.C.A. BASSIGTHE INTRICATE designs used by the Maranaos in their arts and crafts have been interpreted with the skillful use of acrylic by Thomasian Jane Arrieta-Ebarle in her one-woman exhibit entitled Pinagmulan and running from July 4 to August 1 at the UST Museum.

The exhibit is a follow-up on her previous one last year, which also featured ethnic patterns from the tribes of Kalinga, Tausug, Manobo, Bontoc and Maranao. This time, Pinagmulan showcases solely indigenous designs of the Maranaos.

“I thought it would be nice to highlight the ethnic designs by adapting each as theme of my future exhibits,” Ebarle said.

Aside from the ethnic theme, Ebarle also tried different designs, such as the “woman’s form” (dancers in the middle of a movement and women in repose). But she admitted particular fondness with the indigenous design.

A voice with vision

Reymond SajorTHIS Thomasian wonder is singing for a good cause.

Reymond Sajor draws on the power of songs in his one-night-only charity concert I’ll Be There… A World Vision Concert last June 27 at the Music Museum.

Organized by World Vision, an international organization dedicated to aiding impoverished children, the concert featured songs by Sajor, all meant to uplift the morale of the Filipino out-of-school youth.

“This organization made me realize that I can help these children, so I got on the stage and sang,” Sajor told the Varsitarian.

Sajor opened with his own rendition of the song “Bawat Bata,” which encompassed the objectives of World Vision to alleviate poverty.

Guest performers The Company outshone the main act with their famous a capella performance of various Filipino songs such as “Tong, tong, tong” and “Abuchikik” mixed with their notorious comical antics.

An artistic homecoming

Three generations of Thomasian fine arts. Ebarle, Parial and Rabara’s Triptik featured a combination of ethnic designs, caricatures and abstractions, aimed at pooling alumni in time for UST’s 400th celebration. Photos by J.C.A. BASSIG AS THE University prepares for its 400th-year milestone, a group of alumni decided to honor their alma-mater with an invaluable gift: rekindled school spirit.

The UST Atelier Alumni Association, composed of College of Architecture and Fine Arts graduates (CAFA), attempts to rally the Thomasian alumni in time for the 2011 festivities through “Artistang Tomasino Ako!”, a series of quarterly exhibits which started last month.

“This is to make our graduates feel proud,” curator Maryann Venturina-Bulandi said. “People tend to forget where they came from after graduation, we have to unite Thomasians befor the quadricentennial celebration.”

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