The Anthem Philatelist

I would never imagined I'd ever have a tatoo in my life. When I was young, I loathed rhe idea of having tatoos- why put graffiti on your body, it's tantamount to desecrating God's creation? Then I read Bantugang Sugbuan chapter on Painted Bodies by Jay Nathan T. Jore that this practice is a Cebuano cultural heritage. "Decorative painting and decoration in general during the precolonial Cebu were "not architectural, rather it was centered in one important entity - the human- body. As a prized possession, the human body is well celebrated ans decorated. Art was a celebration of this humanist attitude, geared towards the endowment of the human body with the implements and ornamentation that mark the bearers with proper distinction in society and command certain roles in community affairs". That notion that tattooing was undesirable was further shattered when I visited Whang-od . I also realized that she being an artist and my body- the canvas, I've become ...

Treasure your cultural treasures by acquiring it and augment our nations worth! Please show your appreciation by visiting and hopefully owning your heritage. Exhibit runs from July 28 to August 3, 2023. Padayon, Oil on canvas, 18"x24", 2022

In the autumn of 2013, a group exhibit and art residency in Paris became a shared experience of a band of Cebuano artists that became MUGNA . With this cherished experience and in celebration of the coming Philippine-France Friendship Day on June 26, this exhibit is proudly presented. These select group of artists, now mostly in the academe , came from different groups and represent a wide range of stylistic tendencies that somehow reflect the diversity of contemporary art in Cebu. Except for the Cebuano Master Jose Kimsoy Yap , most of the artists selected then like Melver Mercado , Sio Montera ,  Felix Catarata , Marvin Natural , Joshua Cabrera , Palmy Pe-Tudtud , Gigi Ocampo and Radel Paredes were in their mid-career and active in the local art scene. The group decided to name themselves Mugna (Cebuano for “creation” or “to create”), thinking of a common Cebuano words they could leave to their French freinds to remember. ‭This exhibit marks the first ten (Dix) years of Mugna...

After the successful opening of the art collab and soft book launching of The Filipino Artists: Their Culture, Their Art at the Perception Unleashed Exhibit , at the Abuhan Gallery, ArtPortal Cebu together with Manila Filarts group will open another exhibit in Pitogo,Consolacion, COLLECTIVE ILLUSION. Exhibit runs from June 6-21, 2023.  

   As we bring the 4th installment of Tubô Cebu Art Fair back to its physical format on September 16-18, 2022 at Ayala Center Cebu, we invite the community to ignite their playful side–“Duwa ta,” as we say in Cebuano, Arvin Allen A. Tan , Tubô project chairman and Cebu Art Council Board of Trustees, said. Let’s create a space where we can play and grow together.

It’s time to hail Havana as one of the world’s great art cities. The Cuban capital has never lacked artistic credentials, but a growing band of small private galleries, fresh interest in outlandish street art and the emergence of the extraordinary art collectives has sparked a creative renaissance that has truly put the city on the map.  Havana’s artistic roots go deep. The city is home to the olde st arts academy in Latin America, the Academia de Bellas Artes San Alejandro , housed in a colonnaded building in Marianao. Founded in 1818, the academy has bred generations of precocious talent, most notably in the 1920s when it spawned the Vanguardia , a loose collection of painters and sculptors who, rejecting the contemporary penchant for mundane landscapes, invented Cuba’s avant-garde. ( Lonely Planet )  Sand Art Mural in Habana Vieja (Old Havana)  

It was truly an honor to have seen the original pencil sketch of one of Rizal's "passion" and probably his only true love- Leonor Rivera . The avid Rizal collector who bought this sketch paid seven figures for its acquisition. He had a choice between this piece and a sketch of Josephine Bracken , but he chose the "passion" over the wife. Most of Leonor Rivera's (the original Maria Clara) pictures posted on the net are crayon sketches or reproductions. This one is the original pencil sketch.      Leonor Rivera was a native of Dagupan , Pangasinan . She was 13 years old when she and Rizal met in Manila. Apparently, t hey were first cousins, but they later became childhood sweethearts, a love that was mostly nurtured through love letters, as Rizal had to go to Europe for his studies. Being Rizal's sweetheart for eleven years, she played the greatest influence in keeping him from falling in love with other women during his travels. Unfortunately, ...