Unang Daloy pays tribute to the arts of Central Luzon

Abstraction techniques by Eghai Roxas

Philippine Art—as defined by art critics, historians, connoisseurs and collectors from Metro Manila—has had to rely largely on the talents, subjects and styles that have emerged in Central Luzon, said an award-winning arts scholar in Unang Daloy, the first Central Luzon Visual Arts Congress, held Oct. 3-4 at SM City and La Jardin Resort in Baliwag, Bulacan.

With this observation, Reuben Cañete, a recipient of the Leo Benesa Award for Art Criticism from the Art Association of the Philippines, mapped out the regional arts history of Luzon’s vast plain in his lecture, “Reflections on the State of the Visual Arts in Central Luzon.”

Santo Domingo Church, La Naval de Manila shrine to be declared National Cultural Treasures

Sto. Domingo Church.
Photo by Lester Babiera

The Philippine government, through the National Museum, will declare this week the Santo Domingo Church, with its Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary-La Naval de Manila, in Quezon City as a National Cultural Treasure.

The declaration, according to the National Museum, recognizes Santo Domingo-La Naval both as an institution and a structure, as well as a repository of modern art.

The declaration will be formally announced on Oct. 4 at 5 p.m. during the traditional enthronement of Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario, La Naval de Manila, to be led by shrine rector Fr. Giuseppe Arciwals, OP. To formally accept the declaration is Fr. Gert Timoner, OP, the prior provincial of the Philippine Dominican Province.

October is the Rosary Month on the Catholic calendar. It is devoted to the Blessed Mother under the title Our Lady of the Rosary in reference to the Rosary devotion promoted by the Dominicans, one of the most influential religious orders in the history of the Church.