Unang Halad- ArtPortalCebu's First Exhibit for 2024

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Unang Halad (First Offering), ArtPortalCebu's first Exhibit for the year 2024 featuring the artworks of CAI (Cebu Artists Incorporated) and Manila-based artists Roy Espinosa, Jik Villanueva and many more.


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The Kudyapi- The Philippine Two-Stringed Lute

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The kutiyapi or kudyapi, is a Philippine two-stringed, fretted boat-lute. It is the only stringed instrument among the Maguindanao people, and one of several among other groups such as the Maranao and Manobo . It is four to six feet long with nine frets made of hardened beeswax . The instrument is carved out of solid soft wood such as from the jackfruit tree.   Common to all kutiyapi instruments, a constant drone is played with one string while the other, an octave above the drone, plays the melody with a kebit or rattan pluck (commonly made from plastic nowadays). This feature, which is also common to other related Southeast Asian "boat lutes", which were influenced by varying degrees by Indian concepts of melody and scale via the Malay archipelago .   Among the T'Boli , Manobo and other Lumad groups, the instrument (known as Hegelung, Kudyapi or Fedlung) is tuned to a major pentatonic scale . Among groups like the Bagobo , the Kutiyapi (Kudlung) is also used as...
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  Tatz Lee  (Maria Carmen Lee) is a rapidly rising contemporary Filipino visual artist celebrated for her luminous landscapes and deeply spiritual paintings that serve as visual prayers. Balancing an early passion for music with fine art, she took up drawing in 2017 before transitionally adopting wet mediums like oil and acrylic by 2021. Today, her name is closely tied to evocative, soul-stirring oil, mixed media, and watercolor works that explore the themes of faith, hope, and divine creation - these contextualizes her artistic journey, signature themes, and growing legacy in the contemporary art world. In a frantic and heavily digitized world, art often serves as the final frontier for silence and reflection. Among the rising voices in contemporary Philippine art who masterfully cultivate this space is Tatz Lee . A painter who explicitly views her practice as an offering of gratitude to her faith, Lee has established a unique niche through landscapes that transcend physical...
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Glimpses of Old Cebu: Images of the Colonial Era

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"Glimpses of Old Cebu: Images of the Colonial Era" is a 276-page coffee table book of nearly 600 of the best photographs, postcards , stereoviews and lantern glass slides of Cebu and its many towns taken between 1870-1945. More than just a mere showcasing of rare, never-before-seen images, the book also provides a treasure trove of information accompanying nearly every picture. The author, Lucy Urgello Miller has been collecting vintage Philippine postcards and photographs for over 20 years, the thrust of her collection being Cebu . She acquired 90% of her Cebu collection in the United States where she is living with her husband Richard "Rick" Miller. Most of the collection was bought at antique postcards shows. Lucy has about 1,000 pictures and postcards on Cebu but she selected only the best and most interesting for this book. Mommy Gingging, Lucy and my wife Grace A blue-blooded Theresian, Lucy spent her entire education from kinder...
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Cebuano Artists Painting Collection- Celso Duazo Pepito

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The Will to Live 2021, ( Autostereogram )     When we look and appraise a painting by color deficient   Master artist Celso Duazo Pepito , one will immediately come face to face with a brilliantly made work of art.    He was born 54 years ago on the 22nd of November in Daan Bantayan , Cebu . He plunged into the world of art as a young man who showed special skills in lettering . He was surprised when he steps into the halls of the University of the Philippines that the fine arts course was after all about painting. His painting career soon took off soon after college.    There were years of facing struggles hurdling one trial after another. But, like college education, experience is considered as the best teacher. His paintings are known to contain imagery that is brought to life by crisp and clear lines, bold strokes and his usual usage of bright color scheming. But deep within his subjects are personal motives and intentions that come from hi...
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Jose Maria Picornell- My Final Farewell to a Master

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Every city has a soul, but only a few chosen individuals possess the vision to capture it before it slips away into the modern landscape. For Cebu , that visionary was Jose Maria (Joe Mari) Picornell. Often hailed as the " Van Gogh of Cebu ," Picornell did not just paint landscapes; he immortalized the fading pulse of old streets, ancestral corners, and vanishing scenes. To the art world, he was a master of color and texture. To me, he was a gentle soul whose humility, vulnerability, and brilliant creative spirit left an indelible memory in my mind. Our story began with a chance encounter that felt entirely dictated by fate. I bumped into him at Ayala Mall , where he was carrying a few of his paintings. He cut a slightly dejected figure; he was supposed to meet a buyer but had just been stood up. Seeing the master standing there with his life's work in his hands, I introduced myself and asked if I could see the pieces. Right then, amidst the bustling mall crowd, I secured...
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The native of Bohol , Francisco Dagohoy , has the distinction of leading the longest revolt against the Spaniards (1744-1829).    Dagohoy's rebellion started when a priest denied his brother a Christian burial. Supported by about 20,000 people, he held his base in the mountain regions between Inagangan and Talibon . Twenty Spanish governor- generals were unable to quell Dagohoy's liberation struggle.   There is no document available to shed light on Francisco Dagohoy's birth, his parentage and death. It is believed that this was due to the disinterest of the Spanish authorities to record the hero's life and achievements and immortalize the exploits of one whom so humiliated them. Placido Sinsano, a centenarian grandson of Francisco Dagohoy's brother and successor Maximino, explained that Francisco Dagohoy was born in 1724 in Cambitoon , a barrio of Inabangan town some 20 kilometers from the poblacion.   Descendants claimed that Francisco Dagohoy's father...
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