2014 Lampara Storytelling Competition Grand Finals at the Mall of Asia!

Manila, Philippines – Storytelling kids will make you laugh, cry and tickle your imagination, live at the SMX, Mall of Asia! The 2014 Lampara Storytelling Competition Kuwentong Bata, Kuwentistang Bata 3 finalists will be taking the stage at the grand showcase at the Manila International Book Fair, SM Mall of Asia (MOA) on September 21, 2014.

Out of the more than 200 contestants that joined the Elimination Workshops last September 5, only ten finalists per category were chosen for the final competition.

For Category A, Grades 1-4, the finalists are Jazz Doon Milan (Santiago A. De Guzman Elementary School), Luis Benjamin Isidro and Emmanuel Alberto Syquia (PAREF Northfield School for Boys), Chelsea Jemimah V. Gupo (Comembo Elementary School), Wilfred Reyes, Jr. (P. Gomez Elementary School), Samantha Maye Chua, (Chiang Kai Shek College), Marxinne Pajarin (San Joaquin Elementary School).

Finalists for Category B, Grades 5-7 are Ma. Catrina Chan (A. Regidor Elementary School), Elfritz Angelo Peralta (St. Joseph College of Novaliches), Mark Ashly Villarama (Maybunga Elementary School), Miguel Antonio Encarnacion (PAREF Northfield Schools for Boys), Sealtiel Anne Pael (Santiago A. De Guzman Elementary School), Jeremy Matthew M. Trinidad, (Ilaya Barangka Integrated School), Jasmin Cassandra Angulo (Caloocan National Science and Technology High School), Sancai delos Santos (San Joaquin Elementary School), Ericka Krystal U. Nuguid (Academe of Donna Christine), Aila Marie Villeza (Las Pinas National High School)

The 2014 Lampara Storytelling Competition (Kuwentong Bata, Kuwentistang Bata 3) features not only talented kids but also the brilliance of our own writers and illustrators in the field of children's literature.

Winners of the competition shall receive a trophy, certificates, gift packs and cash prizes: Php15,000(1st place), Php12,000 (2nd place) and Php7,000 (3rd place). 

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“Handog sa Bansa” Screening for Lav Diaz’s “Mula sa Kung ano Ang Noon”

Widely acknowledged for bringing the singular highest honor to Philippine Cinema, “Mula sa Kung ano Ang Noon,” Lav Diaz’s Martial Law epic, will have “Handog sa Bansa” special screening on September 21, 2014 at the SM Cinema Centerstage at the SM Mall of Asia.

The special screening, coinciding with the anniversary of the declaration of the Martial Law, is meant to be an offering to the Filipino people (free admission for the public) and will be attended by honored guests. It celebrates the film’s recent triumph at the Festival del Film Locarno 2014 in Switzerland, where it won the Pardo d’oro (Golden Leopard) Grand Prize. The International film festival in Locarno, held last August 6-16, is one of the oldest and most prestigious A-list film festivals in Europe, in the league of Cannes, Venice, and Berlin.

Presented by the Film development Council of the Philippines and Sine Olivia Pilipinas, in partnership with SM Cinema, the special screening is, additionally highlighted by a photo and video exhibit outside Centerstage. A short program with the cast and crew precedes the film screening at 2:30pm.

The film tackles life in the village in one of the remotest regions of the Philippines before Martial Law was declared.

Diaz in an earlier interview with the FDCP entices Filipinos to see the film, “[as] it talks about what happened in the last two years before martial law. It’s based on real events. The characters are based on real characters in our village when I was in grade six up to first year high school. I reenacted everything from memory. But it’s about the coming, it’s a foreboding thing, it’s a horror film actually. We’re entering hell and we felt that then.”

In Locarno, the film also garnered the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize; the International Federation of Film Societies Don Quixote prize, the Youth Jury Environment Is Quality of Life Prize, and the Boccalino de Oro Independent Critics Award for Best Actress for lead Hazel Orencio.

The photo and video exhibit will chronicle the journey of the film’s cast and crew, from the film’s inception and pre-production stages up until the win at Locarno and the triumphant return to the Philippines. The public can view the exhibit as early as in the days leading up to the September 21 event.

For more screening information and updates, please visit the “Mula Sa Kung ano Ang Noon” Facebook page, FDCP Facebook page, and FDCP website (fdcp.ph). Treats and prizes await lucky film viewers.

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Human Sa Lokat: A Solo Exhibition by Roedil "Joe" Geraldo

Appropriating the mystical accord of creation, Roedil “Joe” Geraldo recreates life out of terra cotta to articulate known biblical narratives about creation of life--- that the first man was made of out clay. In his language of form, he evokes plastic visions of mythology or spiritual truth while also turning to his ideas of the divine forces in his clay sculptures; they become physical manifestations of his faith revealed only by his own hands.

Turning soil found under Geraldo’s own feet into shapely mass of art has been his creative commitment that mainly defined much of his career. His dexterous intervention meeting the tactile pleasures and the sensuous manipulation of clay together produce these vigorous corporeal forms, dramatic figures of terra cotta with absolute pitch of dignity and ceaseless curiosity. In the promptings of his unconscious and fertile interventions, he shapes his sculptures with connected limbs, tangled bodies, all forming visible contours of unnatural collocations of the human form with palpable dramatic and robust gestures and in various scales and orientations.

Geraldo is an accomplished sculptor as seen in his consistent production and accomplishments in various national prizes. He has been a Juror’s Choice in the Philippine National Art Awards for in for two consecutive years 2013-14. He has also been exhibited in major venues locally, most of them in Bacolod and Dumaguete, twice at the Alliance Francaise de Manille and in an exhibition at the Ayala Museum. Among the creative communities and affiliations which he actively engages with include the Art Association of Bacolod (AAB), Kasamahan ng mga Artisan Mulat ang Isip (KAMI), Art Association of Talisay (ATA) Signus of Negros

Human Sa Lokat will be on view from Sept 27 to October 8, 2014. YSOBEL art gallery is open Monday to Sunday from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm.

For more information, contact Mark Tiongco at mark.sancheztiongco@gmail.com; 09285071117.

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September 17, 2014 is Ask A Curator Day

Is there anything about Philippine art and culture that you're curious about? Do you have any questions about Yuchengco Museum?

Next week is your opportunity to ask us or our curator, Jeannie Javelosa, on Twitter. September 17, 2014, Wednesday, is Ask A Curator Day. Take part in this unique Q&A session and annual worldwide Twitter event.

Send us your questions through Twitter using the hashtag #AskACurator and the handle@yuchengcomuseum or @jeanniejavelosa. We'll be answering your questions throughout the day!

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