Tag: May 13, 2013

DESIGN champ Royce Mar Nicdao never thought his dream of becoming a comic book artist would lead him to a first-place finish in a Russian architectural derby.

The artistic vibe of the Archstoyanie Festival in Russia caught Royce Mar’s attention, so he and his team decided to submit two entries in the design competition in Nikola-Lenivets, a small village that is home to Russian contemporary artists. There, their work stood out.

“Initially, I thought of the idea but the team handled the creation of the design,” said Royce Mar who worked with a team from the WTA Architecture and Design Studio.

His work, Sousveillance: Under Big Brother's Skirt earned him his biggest success in the field.

SCHOOL’S out but the real education begins.

While some Thomasian graduates may still be recovering from separation anxiety, many of them have already gone job-hunting.

This year, UST sent off more than 8,000 graduates, majority of whom were from the Faculty of Engineering with a total number of 1,430.

For Rogelio Leogie Ondevilla, a fresh grad from the College of Accountancy, facing new challenges and meeting new people are his foremost concern.

“In my 16 years of schooling, I thought the struggles and challenges would end there, but then I realized it’s just the start of new trials and fears,” he said. “There are so many people to meet during job interviews and much more in the companies that I have applied for.”

IS THERE finally a Catholic vote?

The 2013 elections marked the first time Catholic lay groups banded together to aggressively push the “pro-life” agenda by endorsing candidates and educating Catholic voters.

An alliance of around 50 lay organizations called the “White Vote Movement” endorsed 10 candidates for senator last April in a bid to “protect family and life,” following last year’s passage of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Law, which seeks billions of pesos in taxpayers’ money to promote artificial contraception, sterilization and sex education nationwide.

A SOCIAL Weather Stations (SWS) survey that showed a decline in the number of churchgoers in the Philippines is being questioned because of its methodology and timing.

The opinion poll, conducted last Feb. 15 to 17, showed that 9.2 percent or one out of every 11 Filipino Catholics had thought of leaving the Church. The rate of people who attend Mass has also decreased, to 37 percent this year compared with 64 percent in 1991, SWS said.

WITH media’s expanding role in shaping public opinion, journalists must use their faith amid temptations and to find the “ultimate truth.”

“Bente kwatro oras ‘di natutulog ang demonyo,” warned 24 Oras television news anchor and radio broadcaster Mike Enriquez in the First National Social Communications and Media Summit held at the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) last April 23.

Enriquez said self-centeredness makes it very difficult for media practitioners to remain true to their faith in a world run by ratings and revenue, referring to the industry as “commercial media.”

THE COUNTRY has lost the Father of Conceptual Art, Roberto Chabet, to cardiac arrest. He died last April 30. He was 76.

Chabet is known for bringing the sublime out of the ordinary. From his drawings to his collages, sculptures and installations, Chabet explored abstract concepts by making use of commonplace objects.

His radical teaching method gave importance to the “idea” rather than the “form.” Hence, conceptual art.

Born on March 29, 1937, Chabet graduated from the College of Architecture in 1961. He had his first exhibit at the Luz Gallery on the same year. He later served as the founding director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Museum in 1967.

HIGHLIGHTING the rise and evolution of female empowerment was the exhibit by over 30 women visual artists in Malakas at Maganda held at the Executive House of the University of the Philippines-Diliman March 22 to April 30.

The exhibit was organized by the Kababaihan sa Sining at Bagong Sibol na Kamalayan (Kasibulan), an organization which aims to promote and enhance the artistic growth of female artists. It displayed works of mixed media depicting the female form, pieces complementing the mainstay furniture at the Executive House.

Julie Lluch, a UST Philosophy alumna and Kasibulan old timer, created “For Georgia,” a white cast marble sculpture of a vagina mounted on a bright green oval board.

AN INSTRUCTIVE survey of the breadth and scale of modern Southeast Asian sculpture was showcased in the exhibit, Site and Space: Modernist Directions in Sculpture, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) Bulwagang Juan Luna (Main Gallery) and Pasilyo Guillermo Tolentino which ran from March 14 to May 19.

Showcased were sculptures from the CCP Visual Arts collection and the Liwasang ASEAN. Aside from Filipino artists, exhibited were works by Bro. Joseph McNally from Singapore, Redza Piyadasa from Malaysia, Gregorius Sidharta Soegijo from Indonesia and Awang bin Sitai from Brunei Dassalam.

NATIONAL Artist for Visual Arts Arturo Luz’s geometric celebration of the world was evident in his new paintings and heretofore unseen photographs in Arturo Luz: Recent Paintings and Vintage Photographs, at the Manila Contemporary in Whitespace, Makati City last April 10 to May 12.

Inspired by scenic landscapes from his several travels around the world, Luz’s works rendered his trademark geometric lines, curves and circles. His paintings of the palaces and sceneries seen in Rajasthan, India were transformed into linear representation of the towers there, suggesting height and direction.

MUSIC News Intimate Concert Series returned after a one-year hiatus at the Abelardo Hall, University of the Philippines-Diliman last April 20, featuring UST Conservatory of Music alumni Noel Azcona and Najib Ismail.

Baritone Azcona, assistant music director of the UST Singers, opened the concert with Johann Bach’s “Bist du belmir.” He proceeded with a vigorous four-piece set, Carissimi Ibert’s “Vitoria mio core.” Ismail accompanied him on the piano. At some points, flutist John Raymond Sarreal accompanied Azcona.