TRUTHFEST

YEARS WHEN I WAS A CHILD OUTSIDE

YEARS WHEN I WAS A CHILD OUTSIDE
directed by John Torres
AUGUST 20-26
indieSine, Robinsons Galleria

Previously screened as "Voice, Tilted Screens, and Extended Scenes of Loneliness: Filipinos in High Definition" as a work-in-progress in last year's Cinemanila festival. World premiere in Rotterdam (single screen) and Berlin Forum Expanded (multi-channel).

Added a few more scenes after. This final version screened first in Singapore.

Years When I was a Child Outside is, at once, a meditation. It is a meta-film that unravels a journey, a chronicle of stories through foreign regions. It is a probing letter from outside circles, an honest account of illegitimate views from uneven terrain, and a narrative-driven exploration of the nooks and peripheries of the body, geography, and weather. As the journey progresses, the film increasingly traverses the countries of revelation, film, and heart to where all journeys are meant to end with:

105 mins.
DV, color
Directed by John Torres

NEW ORDER

A New Order

The world exists in a manner of chaos and order. An action is equally reacted to either complement or destroy. The creations of things though start naturally as bedlam of ideas, thoughts or energy converging into a single conclave forming into a new order. Its focus is balance like a duality of concepts, of black and white, of the natural and the unnatural. A cycle that continues to bridge the past to the future with the present being the bastion of things to come.

At present, Galerie Anna intends to pursue art in a bold way by featuring a mix of the country’s leading and young visual artists. The “New Order” show is a group art exhibit featuring 20 artists namely Ambi Abaño, Virgilio Aviado, Benjie Cabangis, Ferdinand Doctolero, Noell EL Farol, Jethro Jocson, Marlon Magbanua, JCrisanto Martinez, Von Ng, Bobby Nuestro, Poch Naval, Milmar Onal, Mervy Pueblo, Eghai Roxas, Lirio Salvador, Choie, Pierre Patricio, Demosthenes Campos, Hermi Santo and Ymmanwel Rico Provinio.

With different backgrounds, style and ideology, each artist will present a number of nonrepresentational artworks highlighting contemporary world view. The exhibition thus intends to present art universally, challenging the perception of a mere décor into something that is highly regarded, keen to composition and dedicated to its form as fine art.

Galerie Anna aims to continually promote Philippine Art and the “New Order” show is a package that unwraps of what we anticipate in the future. A spark that create, make and endure in our local art scene.

The New Order will open this 19th of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

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JCRISANTO MARTINEZ @ NEW ORDER

The New Order will open this 19th of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

IN FOCUS : GALLERY ANNA

JETHRO JOCSON @ NEW ORDER

The New Order will open this 19th of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

IMAGES OF THE PAST AND THE FUTURE

LIRIO SALVADOR @ NEW ORDER

The New Order will open this 19th of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

BAHALA NA

MARLON MAGBANUA @ NEW ORDER

The New Order will open this 19th of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

QC2D3D

EGHAI ROXAS @ NEW ORDER

The New Order will open this 18 of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

EIGHT FOR EIGHT

Sio Montera’s Eight Solo Show @ Art Center, Cebu

Cebu-based abstractionist Sio Montera unveils his latest collection of paintings in the Art Center of SM City Cebu on Friday, August 15, 2008. ‘Eight for Eight’ as the exhibit’s title would suggest is the artist’s eight solo exhibition of contemporary art and will run from August 16-30, 2008.

The artist has an MFA degree from UP Diliman where his training taught him to constantly explore the different possibilities that his materials, tools, and techniques present to him in the creative process. The artist has since found his calling in the non-figurative approach to art. Sio Montera finds the creation of non-objective forms a complicated mental and physical process wherein every piece of work is a personal struggle for one’s creativity to come out.

In this latest exhibition, Sio Montera uses his works as mirrors of society. Each work reflects the artist’s sentiments of what is happening around him. In a current situation where the high cost of basic commodities has dampened the cheerful spirit of the people, the artist has found solace in his art by depicting life’s daily struggles as well as the simple joys it brings.

Sio Montera is currently a member of the Executive Council of the Committee on Visual Arts of the National Commission for Culture and Arts. He is both an officer of the Tuslob-Buwa Artists Group and Pusod, The Open Organization of Cebu Visual Artists Inc. He is a full-time Fine Arts faculty of U.P. Cebu and is the research director and author of the book “The Jose Joya Awards 1977-2006: The U.P. Cebu Permanent Art Collection”. He is also the Coordinator for the VISAYAS ISLANDS VISUAL ARTISTS (VIVA) Exhibit-Conference scheduled in Cebu this Novemebr 27-29, 2008. The artist was recently awarded the Chancellor’s Award for most outstanding achievement in creative work by the University of the Philippines Visayas.

Eight for Eight: Sio Montera’s eight solo-exhibition is open to the general public daily from 10am-9pm at the Art Center of SM City Cebu. For information contact 2319851 or log on to www.siomontera.com

CHOEI @ NEW ORDER

The New Order will open this 18 of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

KALAM

GRAND PREMIERE
August 27, 2008
SM City Pampanga
FREE ADMISSION

Me keni and make way for the 1st Kapampanganovela!

To the knowledge of most Filipinos, only Manila has the capability of producing teleseryes in the country, while all other dramas must have been produced by Koreans, Americans, Japanese, Mexicans, or Chinese.

But did you know that in other regions, Pinoy TV dramas are also being produced and are even employing the use of non-Tagalog languages like Cebuano? With the cultural fervor sweeping the regions, one could only be reminded that the Philippines—amidst the institutionalized belief that this archipelago only speaks Tagalog as its language while the rest are mere “dialects”—is, indeed, a diverse country, and that its diversity is bound to extend even to the field of TV dramas.

Take for example the Kapampangans, the latest Filipino ethnolinguistic group to enter the field of teleserye production. This August, which is considered the Language Month, a Kapampangan cable channel (Infomax-8) and a creative pool of Kapampangan youth (Kalalangan Kamaru) will be launching Kálam, the first ever Kapampanganovela—the term introduced to refer to kabalen-produced TV dramas—in Philippine broadcasting history.


Combining the Contemporary and Folklore

Like other Philippine regional communities, Kapampangans possess a rich and colorful collection of folklore. Apart from the usual laman labuad (“laman lupa” for the Tagalogs), Kapampangans have a diverse world of folk healers and sorcerers.

Aside from the popular mangkukulam and mambabarang, there is the magkukusim, who can project his soul from his body to bewitch people across distances; the katulunan, who can channel the spirits of various living creatures; the uple, illusion makers; the ustuang, powerful witches that can make their bodies explode and incinerate the surroundings, and many other strange, magical characters that continuously add color to our local culture, but are sadly being forgotten and replaced by foreign monsters like the Bogeyman, Big Foot, and the Loch Ness Monster.

However, in ‘Kálam’ (a Kapampangan word for “grace” or “gift”) instead of portraying these magical characters in their conventional barrio setting, they will be portrayed in the modern, urban world, dissolving the gap between science and superstition, technology and magic, and the traditional and the modern. Imagine mangkukulam, ustuang, and mangguguna (potion chemist and charms maker) living with us in the city as seemingly normal people who dress up like us, listen to the same songs we patronize, watch the latest concerts, keep Friendster accounts, occupy seats in the government, and occupy jobs in call centers and malls.

This is the universe of ‘Kálam,’ where contemporary drama meets folkloric fantasy.

More than a TV show

The producers stress that ‘Kálam’ is more than a TV show. It is also an advocacy project seeking to promote Kapampangan culture and language to the rest of the world while showcasing and enhancing the Kapampangan’s media-related skills. They dream of the day when various ethnolinguistic groups start exchanging teleseryes with one another instead of importing shows from abroad. Such cultural exchange through broadcast media will contribute to the long overdue realization of national unity for the Filipinos.

Starring an all-Kapampangan cast and written, produced, and directed by an all-Kapampangan staff and crew, ‘Kálam’ will air weeknights at Infomax-8 in Pampanga. For people outside Pampanga, keep visiting this blog for updates.

NOELL EL FAROL @ NEW ORDER

The New Order will open this 18 of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

KultuRE-SHOCK

KultuRE-SHOCK aims to view the Philippine society in different aspects- dwelling in the continuous desire of individuals to define the Filipino culture. How do we really see the Filipino way of life? In its place in the modern world, do we still see Pinoys as always the least prioritized, the neglected, the undeserving? Do we see the Filipino culture as collective subcultures of rugby boys, of families eating trashed leftovers, of sampaguita vendors on the streets, of pick-pockets and snatchers, of squatters, of undisciplined, of traffic-violators, of refugees? Do we, as Filipinos ourselves define “Filipina” the way Greeks do?

KultuRE-SHOCK is a freedom for a Pinoy to choose what he wants to be, where he wants to belong, alongside, taking into considerations his blood line, his roots- that he is a Filipino. As artists, we wish to express our own versions through the wit of the brush, or the might of the camera or however, as long as art becomes a means to communicate how we ponder on this idea. We do not wish to say that this is the true definition of “Pinoy”, but at least, we become active and conscious of the direction Pinoys are now going to because we’re part of it, we’re affected by it.

It maybe fantasy to believe that the third-world Pinoys can be seen as first-world or world-class or forerunners in various fields. But conviction tends to lead ‘assuming’ to ‘becoming’. KultuRE-SHOCK encourages many to, at least, mull over the thought of finding social identity for Filipinos- thus, and may, spur a desire to accomplish, to become what they conceive Pinoys can be.

It is a call to RE-SHOCK- to shock, to alarm Filipinos, again.


PARTICIPANTS
Jorelli San Juan
King Santos
JL Patulan
Pio Mallari
Aion Bato
Miro Calderon
Tope Peralta
Tope Crisostomo
Tad Pagaduan
Kelvin Co
Kaye Opulencia
Carlito Balintec
Vanessa Augustin
Hero Curammeng
Agnes Austriaco
Karel Sevilla
Danilo Fajardo
Jan Salarda
Conrad Lachica
Mark Angeles
Ven Manayan
Mickey Hernandez
Dondi Fernandez
Bobit Ferrer
Yui Firme
RJ De Leon
Grace Ng
Mark angeles
Martin Engracia
Bianca Marquez

EXHIBIT DETAILS
Galleries: Lunduyan Art Gallery, Kamuning Road, QC
August – September 2008

Shotlist Gallery Café, Kalayaan Road, QC
October 14– November 30

VIRGILIO AVIADO @ GALERIE ANNA

The New Order will open this 18 of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

PAINTING WITH LIGHT

Painting with Light is Australian artist/photographer, Henry Bateman’s second Philippine exhibition. Where his first exhibition “Through Australian Eyes” explored different places in the Philippines from an expatriate’s point of view, in this latest exhibition Bateman addresses a wider range of ideas whilst limiting his lens to Metro Manila’s Makati City.

Using computer manipulation, he abstracts his photographs to explore his response to issues that range from current events to observations of Manila’s art scene. Bateman’s works encompass his reaction to the war of terror in “The Fractured Sentinel” and climate change in “Broken Spaces I and II” to viewing art in a Shopping mall in “Mall Art II – Stand in Line” and in a gallery in “Gossip” from a photograph captured at the Ricco Renzo Galleries.

Bateman’s work is unashamedly abstract and conceptual presenting images designed to provoke a dialogue with his camera’s captures. As American artist DL Keur says in a review of his work on her web site www.zentao.com/art-reviews-by-dlkeur. “Henry Bateman is a photographer who photo-manipulates his work into art that is at once unique and evocative.”

Painting with Light is on show at Ricco Renzo Galleries, 2nd Floor, LRI Design Plaza, 210 N. Garcia St. (formerly Reposo), Bel Air 2, Makati City from 15 August to 10 September. Open cocktails will be at 7pm on the 15th August.

BENJIE CABANGIS @ NEW ORDER

The New Order will open this 18 of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

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RADIANCE

Radiance: New Works by Nestor Olarte Vinluan consists of large-scale paintings, spheres, and installation works. Nature was and still is the matrix of the context and composition of these new works. Techniques and appearances of past work persist. Vinluan has been presenting works as installation since 1986 and the spheres that punctuate this exhibition had been an ongoing theme beginning 1995.

In preparing for this twentieth solo exhibition, his second at the Ayala Museum, he affirms that “…I continue to get inspiration from the natural world…of earth and sky, leaf, and rock forms…I try to look at these forms’ textures and colors. Distilling these in mind, I translate them on canvas and (they) become abstract.”

Radiance: New Works by Nestor Olarte Vinluan runs from 9 August - 26 September 2008.

A gallery talk with Vinluan will be held on 6 September 2008.

Museum admission fee includes lecture. Seating reservation is highly encouraged.

FERDINAND DOCTOLERO @ NEW ORDER

The New Order will open this 18 of August 2008 at 6 in the evening and run until September 12. For more information and queries about the gallery and the exhibit, you can log on to www.galerieanna.com, contact the landline number at (632) 5679483, or email at info@galerieanna.com.

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ARMADILLON

DECOLORATION

TALISMAN BOMB

GANTIMPALA THEATER'S 31ST SEASON

Tony Espejo talks about the Four Classics and Gantimpala Theater's 31st Season


Tony Espejo, one of the Philippines ’ theater titans, is ecstatic that his baby, Gantimpala Theater (formerly known as Bulwagang Gantimpala) is now a full-grown adult at thirty-one. He declares, “We must be doing something good to have last this long and I owe this to our audiences of course and to men and women who continue to make the company pulsating with energy and dynamism.”

“Our decade reign at the CCP as Bulwagang Gantimpala definitely enriched Philippine dramaturgy,” recalls Espejo. “Books were being published featuring the plays we staged – and these made easier access to these plays. So that all of a sudden, you have an interest in Filipino plays and professional and amateur drama groups were staging them. The experimental box that was Bulwagang Gantimpala offered a fresh look at staging plays: one didn’t have to have a thousand seater to stage a production – one needed imagination, the sense of intimacy created a new style of truthful acting and new wave of performers emerged together with a super efficient staff. There was no room for mistakes at the Bulwagan.”

“There was no choice but to leave CCP with the change of administration during the time of EDSA 1. We had negotiations with the management then but they decided not to renew our contract as one of its in-house dramatic arts companies. The unwritten rule was to erase all projects that have a Marcos stamp and since we were arguably one of the more positive agenda during the Marcos era, we have to be obliterated,” answers Espejo when asked why Gantimpala bid the CCP adieu.

In consultation with some of senior members of Gantimpala, Espejo accepted the invitation of the late society doyenne Conchita Sunico to make Manila Metropolitan Theater its home. At the Manila MET, he introduced the staging of the Four Classics.

“We had a fabulous reception,” remembers Espejo. “So, I thought why not transfer these productions at the Main Theater. We were doing very well at the Dalubdulaan but somehow, the limited seats will not keep us alive so I said we would take the gamble. We either pack the one-thousand- five-hundred MET Main Theater to earn money and keep us going or go bust. Thus, Florante at Laura was born and as they say, the rest is theater history.”

Espejo, of course is very much aware that some quarters think that Gantimpala Theater have milked the theater industry with his productions of the Four Classics (Florante at Laura, Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo and Ibong Adarna).

He explains, “Without the Four Classics, we would have folded up a long time ago. Beyond the practical aspect of finances, we have trained a big number of actors and production staff by their involvement in the classics. These plays are epic in nature and require many actors performing several roles. The young actors have used these plays as a training ground and the same can be said with the production staff. The historical nature of these productions demands research and training of in period plays so it requires a well-trained set of production staff which I am very proud to say that up to this day, the production staff of Gantimpala are considered as the best in the industry today.”

“I often wonder why doing the Four Classics, as part of one’s artistic repertoire, surprise some people. I am just following the standard practice in the field of music and ballet. The Nut Cracker, Don Quixote or Giselle are necessary as part of the repertoire of any decent classical ballet company. These titles mark your cornerstone in your development as ballet companies. Also, Handel’s Messiah, doing Beethoven or Mozart concerts are staple repertoire of any decent orchestra. Now, what I am trying to present is that Noli, Fili, Florante and Ibong Adarna must be staple repertoire of any decent, aspiring or professional theater company in the country precisely because our dramaturgy stems from these classics,” he continues.

He adds, “Without sounding boastful, I know that this season, PETA, Dulaang UP and Tanghalang Pilipino are incorporating the Noli and Fili in their line up of plays and though they might tweak the story or present their versions of these novels, it cannot be denied that they are obviously realizing the importance of these classics. ”

What can we look forward to your 31st year? “Our season once more focuses on the educational role that live theater provides to our student audiences and the general public. Our performances bring flesh and blood to the famous characters of the stories we dramatize, making them more believable and accessible to the audience. We also emphasize the values inherent in the stories and underscore such virtues as love for country, caring for environment and honesty, truth and justice,” answers Espejo.

“Still, the Four Classics come alive on the Gantimpala stage. Each play continues to enlighten our market and speaks to today’s audiences with a message that we must be proud of our cultural heritage and that all the truth and lessons they present are still relevant.”

He continues, “We are also producing Sleeping Beauty, J.Dennis Teodosio translate this Grimm’s Brother into Filipino and it will tell us of the life story of Aurora and the curse thrown upon her by the evil fairy - that on Aurora’s eighteenth birthday, she would prick her finger and die. We conclude our season with A Life in the Slums, by National Artist for Theater Rolando Tinio, first prizewinner, English division, 1975 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards. It revolves around the lives of two sisters – Millie, happy and content in the slums and Annie, who lives a miserable, high society life. They meet, discuss the wonders and horrors of their existence and in the end, reverse their societal standing. “

“Aside from all these, we have touring productions as well namely Bonifacio Ilagan’s Katipunan: Mga Anak ng Bayan; Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero’s Forever and Teodosio’s Ang Pagong at ang Matsing.”

Espejo concludes, “I would like to tell the public that many celebrities have expressed their interest to be part of our productions namely Jericho Rosales, Cris Villonco, Francis Ong, China Cojuangco, Kakai Bautista, Tosca Puno and Monica Llamas plus our in house members like Jojit Lorenzo, Kimberly Diaz, Miguel Castro, Adriana Agcaoili Perry Escaño and Roede Camañag. Thus, I invite every one to come join us and experience the magic of theater.”

Gantimpala Theater’s 31st season officially begins with Florante at Laura on August 1-3, 15-16 (AFP Theater) and August 8-10(SM Southmall). For information on bookings and ticket reservations, call 899-5745/896-3503/474- 5198 or write to gantimpalaproduction@yahoo.com. ph.

PORTALS