The Carabao Collision

For contemporary arts class, we were assigned to work in groups and do a presentation about one of the different agencies in the Philippines, namely the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Cultural Center of the Philippines, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, National Museum of the Philippines, National Library of the Philippines, National Archives of the Philippines, and Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino. From what I can recall during the presentation, these agencies served its individual purpose in supporting the Philippine’s arts and culture. They sounded rather important especially since the Philippine government, too, wants to help keep our nation’s arts alive. As the Philippines is growing and developing for a brighter and prosperous future (hopefully), there might be a point where the people may forget about their past, their rich and diverse culture. Meaning to say that as people of the Philippines are moving forward, I am in hope that they don’t leave...

"Filipino-ness" a term that I would have never knew existed until now. But to further this I pose another question, "what does it mean to be Filipino"? Is it the OFWs working abroad? The country itself? The strange cuisine like balut? Or the overly enthusiastic love for basketball? The word, Filipino, might just as well be a proper adjective that denotes anything that comes from the nation of the Philippines or relates to it. But the thing is there is more to it than that to make someone and also something Filipino. In many present Filipino literary works, there is a greater usage of foreign words, especially in English. Although nowadays many of these works contain more English words, it does not necessarily degrade the "Filipinoesque" nature. Because of the fact that there are artists and writers who use foreign languages and traditions in their work, critics question the authenticity of its so called "Filipino-ness". But regardless Filipino...

According to the site, Leon Gallery was founded in 2010 and is a distinguished gallery that leads in specializing in both historically important and museum quality Philippine art. They also include antiques that come from the pre-Hispanic and Hispanic era. Every piece of artwork and antique is guaranteed authenticity. Taken by this we look at their website: www.leon-gallery.com . At first glance of the layout, it can be seen that they have a clean and minimalist approach in their design.  There are a number of pieces that they currently have in auction, 156 to be exact. In which it can be shown that there are a range of pieces from Filipino culture to abstract art designs. Though there are three that personally stand out to me. The first one that caught my eye the piece entitled, "The Jeepney", by Augusto Albor. Even though for most viewers they may see this as just another abstract piece, by knowing the context of the piece brings a new meaning behind the texture, co...