Tag: February 1, 2006

ALTHOUGH well known for his impressive architectural works such as the Manila Post Office and the Jones Bridge, Juan Arellano was also the first modernist painter in the Philippines. And with Drawing Spaces, the third exhibit arranged by his family since his death, Arellano’s mastery of the arts assumes a different form.

The exhibit, on display at the Lopez Memorial Museum until April 8, chronicles Arellano’s life as a painter with over 80 of his works in canvas.

IT SEEMS the holidays are not yet over as Instituto Cervantes screened a post-Christmas animated film for the whole family.

Los Reyes Magos (The Three Wise Men) is a new version of the Biblical tale that has become a classic embodiment of Christ’s birth. Directed by Antonio Navarro, the 2003 film was distributed by United International Pictures–Spain in several parts of France and Spain.

AFTER more than thirty years, Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex is set to get a major facelift with a new redevelopment program that will best mesh arts and culture with the 21st century trends, and Thomasians figuring prominently in the bid to update the CCP’s look.

In a District Design Competition for the new Cultural Center District, the designs of a group of very young UST alumni architects and three UST student groups were chosen as blueprints for the redevelopment.

THE LIFE and times of the University’s Rectors are remembered and honored in an interactive multimedia exhibit titled Rectors Through the Years. On display from Jan. 16 to Feb. 10 at the UST Museum of Arts and Sciences, the exhibit is part of the University’s 395th anniversary celebration, and the documentation of the University’s history in preparation for its quadricentennial events on 2011.

AN APOSTOLIC society of priests was recently formed in the United States to combat full time abortion, euthanasia, and the pro-choice trend in America and worldwide.

Named after John Paul II’s encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life is the first official pro-life society for Catholic priests and seminarians. Founded by Fr. Frank Pavone, head of the Priests for Life organization and a priest from the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, the new society of priests aims to promote the defense of human life, especially the unborn.

THE ARCHDIOCESE of Manila, through the CBCP’s National Office of Mass Media, recently launched TV Maria, a channel that aims to offer people with wholesome entertainment without being too “preachy.”

First aired last January 1, the station is available on Channel 21 of Dream Satellite TV, a global satellite network owned by tycoon Antonio “Tony Boy” Cojuangco.

THE IDEA of making New Year’s resolutions never fails to amuse both the people who make them and those who find them ridiculous.

To be sure, what we list down are the same old things we wanted to accomplish and the same old habits we wanted to break the previous year, a solid proof of the futility of New Year’s resolutions.

FENG SHUI is more of a way of life, not some fancy hype about controlling the flow of luck. Feng shui is a lifestyle, not another trendy “how-to” guide that, most curiously, almost always gets the limelight only during the Chinese New Year.

“Feng” is Mandarin for wind, or air, while “shui” is water, which aptly represents life. The wind carries with it the life force from the water toward (or away) a particular place. Arguably, it is the (science and/or art) of arranging things to control the flow of this wind.

YOU’D be surprised by the number of people I know, mostly women, who want to take up or are actually taking up second courses or master’s degrees in preschool education. I comment that the phenomenon is for these people to bridge a psychological gap somewhere, but then again, many of these women are in relationships, and are able to have kids if they so wanted it.

THE CATHOLIC Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) may have indicated its openness, albeit in a left-handed way, to official moves to amend the 1987 Constitution in a pastoral statement last Jan. 29. But Father Rector Tamerlane Lana, O.P. and other University authorities expressed reluctance about the initiatives.

Lana said efforts to change the Constitution may only serve personal political interests.