CCP restages show on Filipino poet Jose Corazon de Jesus

Press release

CCP restages show on Filipino poet Jose Corazon de Jesus

THE Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) restages the production of “Ang Pagbabalik-Tanaw sa Unang Hari ng Balagtasan” on September 21, 22, and 23, 2018 at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute following the success of the first show in May 2018 and to celebrate the Center’s 49^th anniversary in September.

“Ang Pagbabalik-Tanaw sa Unang Hari ng Balagtasan” celebrates the life and works of Jose Corazon de Jesus. Huseng Batute is one of his many pen names. The CCP named its studio theater Tanghalang Huseng Batute after the great Filipino writer. He was born on November 22, 1894 and passed on on May 26, 1932. He was married to Asuncion Lacdan and had three children: Teresa, Rogelio, and Jose Corazon de Jesus, Jr.

“By honoring the past, the show shines a light on the beginnings of the popular Original Pilipino Music (OPM) love songs and rap battles – the kundiman and the Balagtasan. The show is also reminiscent of the sarsuwela where contemporary issues that deal with the political and personal are presented,” Arsenio J. Lizaso, president of the CCP, said.

“Ang Pagbabalik-Tanaw sa Unang Hari ng Balagtasan” features the songs and poems of De Jesus performed by the Philippine Opera Company (POC), the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company, the Lipa Actors Company (LAC) led by founder Luisito Nario, and ventriloquist Ony Carcamo. Vim Nadera is one of the hosts of the show. The production is directed by Ian Lomongo.

De Jesus was a consummate artist. As a writer, he wrote more than 4,000 columns for the Taliba newspaper written in verse form in a span of 10 years. He used the pen name Huseng Batute for his Buhay-Maynila column in Taliba. He has six (6) published books, namely, Mga Dahong Ginto, Gloria, Mga Itinapon ng Kapalaran, Sa Dakong Silangan,Ilaw sa Kapitbahay, and Maruming Basahan.

De Jesus, who studied music under the Opera Italyana director Enrico Renieri, was a lyricist and collaborated with many composers of his time such as Francisco Santiago, Leon Ignacio, and Constancio de Guzman. One of the more famous songs he penned from De Guzman’s composition was the translation of “Nuestra Patria” to “Bayan Ko”. “Bayan Ko” is considered as the second (unofficial) national anthem of the country.

De Jesus stood out as a performer. He held the undefeated title of “Hari ng Balagtasan” until his death in 1932, beating his closest contender Florentino Collantes. The Balagtasan is a Filipino literary form of debate where opposing participants use unrehearsed rhymed verses to prove their respective viewpoints. The rap battles of today trace their roots to the Balagtasan.

His immense popularity in the Balagtasan led to a movie invitation in Oriental Blood where he acted with Atang dela Rama, Carmen Rosales, and his son Jose Corazon de Jesus, Jr. 

The September 21 show of the “Ang Pagbabalik-Tanaw sa Unang Hari ng Balagtasan” starts at 7:00 p.m. and ends at 8:30 p.m. The September 22 and September 23 shows run from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tanghalang Huseng Batute is the venue for the three (3) shows. Tickets are at P1,000 and P800 with a 50% discount for students, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), Senior Citizens, and government personnel. For ticket information, please call the CCP Box Office at 832-3706 or log on to ticketworld.com.ph.

SIGNS OF LIFE ART EXHIBIT

PRESS RELEASE

August 16, 2018

SIGNS OF LIFE BY FROILAN CALAYAG AT CCP

FROILAN Calayag’s Signs of Life exhibition is ongoing until September 9, 2018 at the Pasilyo Guillermo Tolentino (3F Hallway Gallery) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The exhibition is presented by CCP with support from West Gallery.

Signs of Life is an exhibition that offers a threefold manifest.

The first is the fictional account of a boy who finds a large rock. Upon closer inspection, it becomes a head, and forms a figure. Moving even closer, it transforms into a planet carrying life. The rocks become the frames of the story of these life-forms that contain heroes, villains and adventures.

The second is the narrative of the man who pursued the field of art, but has been decidedly missing from the center of it. He persists, same as before, and yet does not often come out to the surface. Froilan Calayag is but one of many painters that first made a mark in the student art competition circuit, and then in commercial galleries in the first two decades of the millennium. Signs of Life is his twelfth solo exhibition in eleven years.

Exhibit photo by Sheryl Cumpio

The third is the idea of painting within the confusing and multifaceted context of Philippine contemporary art.

In the end, the manifest, whatever can be read from it, is merely an accounting of the adventures taken on the ship. History will tell us which of these stories will find importance to those in the future.

Exhibit viewing hours are from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm (and until 10pm on days with evening performances at the CCP Main Theater). For more information, contact the CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division at (632) 832-1125 local 1504/1505 and 832-3702, mobile 0917-6033809, email (ccp.exhibits@gmail.com), or visit   www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.

Meeting Pancho Piano and His Art

PANCHO PIANO is one of the most recognized artists in our country today. His medium varies from acrylic, oil, and stain glass. He gathers inspiration from everyday things from landscape and portrait to abstract and realism.

 

Pancho M. Piano

Sir Pancho started out joining art contests at school but his big break when he was offered a scholarship at UP Fine Arts after his talent got noticed. He later went to Europe and stayed the longest in Japan. It was also in Japan that he got into another art form which is stain glass. He also got to do some stain glass art in Philippine churches but he concentrated generally on canvas.

Artists like sir Pancho also have camaraderies and fellowships and he is also with the Friday Group. The Saturday Group is one of the oldest groups because it’s already fifty years of existence and has a roster that includes national artists. Sir Pancho also has a group of Manila based Bicolano artists. But he also has friends with the Saturday Group.

Lupang Hinirang by Pancho Piano.
(With Permission from Mr. Piano).

Sir Pancho has an ongoing exhibit at Okada’s Corral Wing. Among his displayed works, the one that I fancied was the Lupang Hinirang. I fancied this painting because it illustrates a mythic-like character on horseback. During our chat, he was able to draw a portrait of a fellow blogger within 7 minutes. Besides Okada, sir Pancho will also have another exhibit that will open on June 21 at SM Aura. When I asked him about being an artist in Europe, he answered, it is an eye-opener to Europeans that we Filipinos are not just OFWs, domestic helpers or caregivers.

For more info about Mr. Pancho Piano works please feel free to visit his official website and social media platform at:

https://www.panchopiano.com

https://www.facebook.com/PanchoPianoPage/

https://twitter.com/PianoPancho

https://www.pinterest.ph/panchopiano/

https://www.instagram.com/PanchoPianoPage/

District Gallery latest exhibit: Ground Zero

Ground Zero presents works across various media that explore escape as a viable aesthetic  and political—that is to say, artistic—response. Here, escape is not about a naïve denial of the real, but an acknowledgment of the absurdity that dominates the political sphere and increasingly, the hype-culture of contemporary art, and thereafter taking a moment to step aside.

In this idea of escape, one remains in the midst of everything, in a paradox of stopping in motion. “Umuwi na tayo,” goes the song by the Eraserheads, “dahil wala ng sense ang ating mundo" — which in translation goes “Let’s get back home since the world doesn’t make sense.” Where—or perhaps more precisely, what—home is, sustains itself here as a lingering question whose openness is not only the rationalizing premise of the group exploration, 

but is also the very aesthetic held forth: these are works that could still the mind, that a new perspective might be born, one without prescription, out of the rare freedom that stillness yields.

[ Part of the sales proceed goes to rehabilitation of Marawi. ]

Participating Artists: 

Celine Lee, Jose Tong, Kevin Nieves, Marc Gaba, Nasser Lubay, Racquel De Loyola, Wipo,

Cesar Legaspi Centennial Exhibit

Each year, there are new artists emerged. They come and go. Most got famous after they lived and died. Only a few are recognized for their work within their lifetime but once they passed on, they are immortalized because of their work lived on.

National Artist Cesar Legaspi is one of those examples. His works are either in his family’ household or somewhere displayed in a huge lobby. At CCP, having your work displayed is not just a prestige but an honor. CCP values the works of artists like Mr. Legaspi; who is now celebrating his 100^th birth year.

It is my privilege learning about his contribution to the art world because not all of his works were saved long before I was born. I was told that once before the opening of the Coastal Road, his work the Bayanihan was displayed as a fresco and that it wasn’t even given care to be transferred to another location.

 

Three-dimensional animated tribute

What makes Cesar Legaspi’s works interesting that he was commissioned to do portrait for the former first lady Imelda Marcos but he also painted some abstract works that shows the horrors of martial law. The exhibit of Cesar Legaspi is also curated by members of the family who are not just familiar with his works but also grew up with it.

This gallery is really worth going not just for the exhibit displayed but also for the experience. You are not just using your sense of sight but also hearing. Composer Ryan Cayabyab composed a song for the artist using the letters of his name as notes.

Even though Mang Cesar’s daughter Celeste became a popular singer, his granddaughter Clara continues her grandfather’s legacy. Using the theme of his lolo(grandfather), she uses modern technology like a projector to make his grandfather’s work moves.

 

Machina by Clara Gallardo

The Bayanihan of Cesar Legaspi was also brought back to life with the help of the Pampangan lantern makers. The new Bayanihan is not only displayed but it also has moving lights controlled at the rear part of the wall.

The exhibit of Cesar Legaspi is currently at CCP Bulwagang Juan Luna in the third floor of the main lobby for a limited time. For more CCP events, follow this blog and like L.E.N.S. blogs on Facebook.

Bus Ticket Artworks by Jasmine Cruz

It's not everyday that you see art from everyday things this is such a case for one particular art. My friend Jasmine Cruz from BusinessWorld invited me during the opening of an exhibit she shares with three artists iChill Cafe in Manila.

Jasmine Cruz(3rd from the left) with fellow exhibitors and the bus tickets art works in the background.

The theme of the exhibit is Encounters which suits the art that was showcased because the observer can see how he/she can relate. But what really caught my attention was Jasmine's works that is full of bus tickets.

Here in the Philippines, bus tickets comes from a small piece of paper with printed numbering and bus liner company logo and different amounts depending on the destination. Jasmine kept all her tickets when commuting to and from residence. From there, she did all four frames.

Not only she made four pieces of collected bus tickets, one piece consists of pink colored bus tickets and the other with only one bus liner with a crown logo. Jasmine told me it took her two years at least to gather these tickets.

I shared what I realized to Jasmine upon seeing the bus tickets that it may tell history one day especially since the bus fare is still visible. All four bus ticket art are already sold. I look forward for the next bus tickets art work.