Monday, October 27, 2008
NATIONAL ARTIST: FRANCISCA REYES-AQUINO
Popularly known as the Mother of Philippine Folk Dancing, Francisca Aquino-Reyes was born in Lolomboy, Bocaue, in the province of Bulacan, on March 9, 1899. She was the eldest of three children of Felipe Reyes and Juliana Santos Reyes of Manila.
Although born in Bulacan, she received her early education in Manila: the Meisic Elementary School, Tondo Intermediate School and Manila High School in Tondo, Manila. She obtained her High School Teacher's Certificate (H.S.T.C.) in 1923 and her Bachelor of Science in Education degree in 1924 from the University of the Philippines (U.P.). The Master of Arts in Education degree was soon to follow from the same state university.
She worked as instructor of physical education in UP wherein her great interest in folk songs and dances were noted by the university president Jorge Bocobo, who sent her throughout the Philippines to undertake research on folk songs and dances. And together with Antonino Buenaventura, and Ramon Tolentino (her first husband who died in 1939), she was tasked to collect and record native songs, dances, music and costumes.
It has become a tradition for the three to travel to the remotest barrios every summer to gather materials from various indigenous groups. As she took notes of the dance steps and movements, Buenaventura recorded the music, while Tolentino took still and moving pictures.
She had documented about 50 basic steps and 200 folk dances of various modes and colors. Her research indicated interesting patterns: people near the sea danced about fishing and rowing; those in the coconut regions made use of coconut shells in their dances; and those in the rice-producing provinces depicted various steps in planting and harvesting. She also observed that people from economically self-sufficient regions produced lively dances and music, while those in the provinces were livelihood was a constant struggle created slow, melancholy and mournful dances and music.
Francisca Reyes-Aquino also took graduate studies in physical education in the college of Physical Education at Boston University. She also attended a summer session at Harvard University.
When Jorge Bocobo became Secretary of Public Instruction, he appointed Aquino to the Bureau of Education. In her new post, she actively promoted the revival of of folk dances through the public schools. She organized the bureau's Folk Song and Dance Club. The other organizations she founded were the Philippine Folk Dance Society and the Filipiniana Dance Troupe (as part of the US Special Service during the liberation). She also served as consultant to the Bayanihan Dance Company.
As a prolific writer, she authored 15 books and many articles on folk dances. In 1959, she was elected as representative to the World Conference of Teaching Profession in Washington, DC. And in 1962, she received the much coveted Ramon Magsaysay Award for her valuable role in recording and preserving Philippine folk dances.
When she died at age 84 on November 21, 1983, she was honored with a state funeral. She was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
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Please note:
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!
Labels: art matters, national artist
posted by Señor Enrique at 8:36 AM
| 13 comments
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
NATIONAL ARTIST: F. SIONIL JOSE
Much to my great delight, I've finally located and visited Solidaridad Bookstore yesterday. Hailed as the finest in the Philippines, it reminds me of the quaint specialty book shops in New York that have been made extinct by the superstores like Barnes & Noble and Border's. However, unlike those specialty Manhattan bookstores now long gone, Solidaridad has managed to thrive for more than forty years now.
The foreign titles it carries -- in fiction, poetry and other subjects like humanities, philosophy, history and political theory -- including its impressive inventory of Filipino books, makes Solidaridad a favorite haunt by serious book collectors and wordsmiths. Its name was inspired by the fortnightly journal La Solidaridad, mouthpiece of leading Filipino nationalists during the Spanish rule.
According to a PDI article by Tina Santos, each and every book sold in Solidaridad is painstakingly scrutinized by its owner, making sure that it is interesting, important or have a permanent value. For my initial purchase, out of deep respect for its owner, F. Sionil Jose, I got two books he authored: Ben Singkol and To the Young Writer and Other Essays.
Fortunately, on that particular morning, Mr. Jose was in his office at the store's mezzanine; thus, the store clerk was able to have him sign my copies. Although I didn't meet him, I did get to meet his wife, Teresita. We enjoyed a brief, though lively, conversation that revolved around her travel experiences abroad, as well as the couple of years she had lived in California with her daughter. Incidentally, our fellow blogger Noypete was her son Tonette's college buddy.
As a prolific essayist and novelist, Mr, Jose prefers to write in English rather than in Tagalog or Ilocano. His works have become some of the most widely-read in the English language. It was in 1962 when his first novel, The Pretenders, was published. And since then, his catalog of published works has grown to include twelve novels, seven books of short stories, a book of verse, and five important books of essays.
His writings, which are available in 28 languages, often depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society,
He has been awarded numerous fellowships and awards; two of which were the 2004 Pablo Neruda Centennial Award from Chile and the notable and most prestigious award of its kind in Asia, the 1980 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts. On June 11, 2001, Mr. Jose was awarded the prestigious title of National Artist for Literature in an official ceremony at Malacañang.
Born in Rosales, Pangasinan on December 3, 1924, Mr. Jose started writing while in grade school. As a fifth grade pupil, he frequented the school library and immersed himself in the novels of Jose Rizal and those of great foreign authors.
According to Wikipedia, "reading about Basilio and Crispin in Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere made the young Jose cry, because injustice was not an alien thing to him. When Joe was five years old, his grandfather who was a soldier during the Philippine revolution, had once tearfully showed him the land their family had once tilled but was taken away by rich mestizo landlords who knew how to work the system against illiterates like his grandfather."
Recently, Mr. Jose reportedly walked out during the tribute to Lucrecia Kasilag at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The reason: he couldn’t stand finding himself in the company of Imelda Marcos; worse, seeing the former first lady mount the podium to eulogize Kasilag and then regale the audience with her own major role in the birth of the CCP. That was too much for Mr. Jose, so he decided to get up and leave.
In his statement to the CCP officials, Mr. Jose begged them not to honor Imelda Marcos in any of the CCP activities. Furthermore, he asserts:
In ostracizing her and denying her honor, you honor the memory of Ninoy Aquino and the thousands upon thousands who were unjustly jailed, tortured, killed or salvaged by the Marcos dictatorship.
In honoring the plunderers of this nation and letting them off easy without any punishment (like Erap) we not only condone their infamy; other rapists of this nation will also feel redeemed, convinced that they did no wrong. Then, they pave the way for future criminals to do the same, sure that, like Imelda and her gang, they will not be punished and that after their foul deeds, they can even preen in the limelight before a people without memory.
The Marcoses were in power for more than 20 years — they gave patronage with the people’s money to many. These recipients of their patronage are grateful. I can very well understand that, but keep in mind that the evil that they did far outweighs the miniscule good that they achieved, the Cultural Center is one and the appointment of King is another.
The Center and King helped deodorize a little a murderous dictatorship. And don’t you ever forget, it was your money, my money, OUR money that built the Cultural Center — not Imelda’s.
In his book To The Young Writer and Other Essays, Mr. Jose asks our young writers:
Be an honest witness to your time, and be strong when they revile you for telling the truth. Your vocation will also condemn you to solitude, but remember -- he who stands alone is the strongest. Even in our shattering loneliness, remember you are writing, not for critics, academics, or other writers, but for your own people who, in their silence and perhaps poverty, cannot express the aspirations and anguish. You are their voice but only if you have not deserted or betrayed them.
These days, Mr. Jose and his wife continue untiringly to mind their bookstore's daily grind.
Solidaridad Bookshop531 Padre Faura Street
Ermita, Manila
Telephone: (632) 523-0870
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I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!
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I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!
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Visit: MANILA PHOTOJOURNALISM
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Labels: Featured Writer, national artist
posted by Señor Enrique at 7:25 AM
| 74 comments
Thursday, September 25, 2008
NATIONAL ARTIST: LEANDRO LOCSIN
He is the only Filipino architect who early in his career had began receiving worldwide recognition yet he is the only Filipino architect of great importance without any foreign training; strictly a home grown architect, a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas.
However, in his visit to the United States, he met some of his influences, Paul Rudolph and Eero Saarinen. It was then he realized to use concrete for his buildings which was relatively cheap in the Philippines and easy to form. His buildings look very modern that many asked if his works were of Filipino architecture.
American writer Mitchell B. Rouda's essay in "Contemporary Architects" answers the question.
"Locsin's architecture begins with sincere introspection , both of himself and his nation. He is very attuned to Filipino living patterns, and has avidly studied vernacular Filipino building. He frequently incorporates common vernacular spatial qualities into his designs.
His nation's tropical climate, for example, has always exerted considerable influence on architecture produced there, and Locsin responds to the weather in much the same way as his ancestors. Large open spaces and few ceiling to floor partitions, frequent use of lattices and other partial partitions, and the expression of the roof as the dominant shape, are all qualities of Locsin's work that have been adopted from the vernacular. An exuberant sense of ornament, detail and architectural intent, contrasted against great simplicity is another characteristic that marks Locsin's buildings, and has been drawn from his own culture."
Leandro V. Locsin was born on Aug 15, 1928 in Silay City, Negros Occidental. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Don Leandro Locsin y de la Rama, who was the first elected governor of the province under the American regime.
The first known Locsin came to Molo, Iloilo from China in the middle of the 18th century. He married a local woman who gave birth to four sons and a daughter. Three of the four sons became priests, and the only son who married had 14 children. The Locsins, though originally from Molo, eventually played a significant role in building up Silay.
About the middle of the 19th century, a Fr. Eusebio Locsin was appointed parish priest of Silay. Awed by its abundance of fertile land, he invited his relatives in Molo to settle in Silay. Gregorio Locsin, a great grandson of the first Locsin in Molo, came to Silay. He had 13 children, the eldest of whom, Leandro, later became governor.
Silay was the seat of the 1896 Revolution in Negros, and Don Leandro's pharmacy was the meeting place of the leaders. Contributions to the revolutionary fund were coded as pharmacy sales.
Don Leandro was a man of culture with a large library and an impressive collection of recordings of classical music. Locsin who lived with his grandparents since he was four months old, hence developed a love for music. In this setting, Locsin's appreciation for art and music flourished.
He later studied at the De La Salle Brothers in 1935 before returning to Negros due to the Second World War. He returned to Manila to study Pre-Law, before shifting to pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Music at the University of Santo Tomas. Although he was a talented pianist, he later shifted again to Architecture, just a year before graduating.
While waiting for the results of the government board examination after having graduated from UST in 1953, Locsin designed ballet sets for Ricardo Cassel. For a local production of of George Gershwin's "Lady Be Good," he designed the sets and also worked backstage. These experiences proved helpful when years later he was commissioned by Imelda Marcos to design the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Locsin's architectural career spanned 39 years. His largest single work is the Istana Nurul Iman, the palace of the Sultan of Brunei, which has a floor area of 2.2 million square feet. The CCP Complex itself is a virtual Locsin Complex with all five buildings designed by him -- the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Folk Arts Theater, Philippine International Convention Center, Philcite and The Westin Hotel (now Sofitel).
Locsin was married to Cecilia Yulo, to which he had two children, one of whom is also an architect. On November 15, 1994, at the age of 66, he passed away, the victim of a stroke.
For more on Locsin's works, awards and citations, click here.
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Additional source:
A Man of Vast Culture by Rodrigo D. Perez III
THE NATIONAL ARTISTS OF THE PHILIPPPINES
Cultural Center of the Philippines
National Commission for the Culture and the Arts
Anvil Publishing
Additional source:
A Man of Vast Culture by Rodrigo D. Perez III
THE NATIONAL ARTISTS OF THE PHILIPPPINES
Cultural Center of the Philippines
National Commission for the Culture and the Arts
Anvil Publishing
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Please note:
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
*
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
*
Labels: national artist
posted by Señor Enrique at 4:46 AM
| 22 comments
