Exhibits
Anito
Silverlens Galleries, Makati City
Ongoing until May 28
Filipino-Dutch visual artist Martha Atienza pays homage to the Ati-atihan festival and explores what it has become as provoked by current events in her video work that was also selected for the Film Sector in this year’s edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong.
Ati-atihan means to be like Aetas, an indigenous group predating the Austronesian migrations some 30,000 years ago. Atienza showcases through her chosen medium how from a Christianized animistic festival on Bantayan Island, Ati-atihan has slowly turned into madness due to super typhoons, Manny Pacquiao, the Papal visit and labor migration.
For more details on this ongoing show, contact the gallery at (02) 816-0044 or at info@silverlensgalleries.com.
Sipa
Silverlens Galleries, Makati City
Ongoing until May 28
With oil on canvas paintings and large-scale installations, Jose Tence Ruiz surveys the concurrent directions of his personal artistic practice in his latest solo show in the Philippines, following his successful outing at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015.
Each piece in Ruiz’s latest series reveals a sense of anxiety with the present times and distills the idea of unstable states in its simple complexity. Four installations, which are constructed from repurposed and found materials – salvaged from most derelict of circumstances and reconstituted as hybrid structures of control – delve into the dominance of sacral and secular power. The paintings, on the other hand, dovetail with the questions posed and represented by the installation pieces.
Visit www.silverlensgalleries.com for more information on this exhibit.
Films
Those Funny Spaniards. Four Spanish Comedies
FDCP Cinematheque, Manila
May 7, 14, 21 and 28
Instituto Cervantes and the Spanish Embassy, in cooperation with the Film Development Council of the Philippines, present a film series featuring Spanish comedies.
Kicking off the film series is the Daniel Sánchez Arévalo-directed film, Primos (2011), which follows the life of three thirty-something cousins trying to recharge their manhood in the seaside town where they spent summers as children. The following Saturday will see Alex de la Iglesia’s Crimen Ferpecto (2004), which is a witty black comedy about the cutthroat world of sales representatives clawing their way to the top.
The third installment will feature Joaquín Oristrell’s Sin Vergüenza (2001), a film about actors and their everyday life. Wrapping up the Spanish film series is Plácido (1961), directed by Luis García Berlanga, a classic and one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema that chronicles the life of a humble owner of a three-wheeler whose family is forced to live in a public lavatory because of lack of money to pay the rent.
All motion pictures will be shown in their original version in Spanish with English subtitles. Call (02) 526-1482 or visit www.manila.cervantes.es for inquiries and more information.
Workshops
Everyday Photography for Teens
Ayala Museum, Makati City
May 8, 15 and 22
Young adults from 13 to 18 years old who love taking photos and want to take their skills to the next level will get a chance to do so in this three-day workshop conducted by corporate executive-turned-photographer Aly Reyes.
Participants will learn the basics of photography and acquire aesthetic and technical skills for taking captivating snapshots. The workshop features a classroom lecture, a photo clinic and photo shoots that will cover topics such as “Photography: Then and now,” “Camera lenses” and “The digital workflow,” among others.
The P4,800 workshop fee is inclusive of materials, handouts, snacks, one-day free access to the Ayala Museum and Filipinas Heritage Library. For inquiries, call (02) 757-7117 to 21 local 25 or email villaflores.md@ayalafoundation.org.
Concerts
Klassikal Music Foundation presents: Songs from a Silver World
Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City
May 7; 7:30 p.m.
Young Filipino music students from different universities will be performing a lineup of great songs from classic films in this one-night only concert of Klassikal Music Foundation. KMF is founded by Dr. George T. Yang, a Filipino tenor who is also the founder and chairman of McDonald’s Philippines. The foundation aims to help in the development and appreciation of local classical music.
Also gracing the concert is one of KMF’s distinguished scholars, Gerphil Flores, and McDonald’s endorser Alden Richards. The show is directed by Andrew Fernando, music direction by Hermenegildo Lanera and choreography by Richardson Yao.
Tickets for the show are priced at P1,000 (orchestra), P750 (loge) and P500 (balcony). According to organizers, all proceeds of the show will go to a scholarship fund. For ticket inquiries, call (02) 813-0935 or 0929-4706538.
