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Friday, March 29, 2024

Exhibit honors National Artist Ramon Valera

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The Philippine ternos and long gowns of Former Philippine First Lady Luz Banzon Magsaysay, Nedy Tantoco, Gloria Romero, Gretchen Cojuangco, Elvira Manahan, Fe Dolor-Serrano, Delza Lazatin, Margarita Romualdez Licaros, Paz De La Fuente, and Carmen Paraiso Zulueta take center stage in Valera and the Modern exhibit.

Ramon Valera, the country’s very first National Artist for Fashion Design, rose to prominence due to his formal Filipiniana designs.

Inspired by Valera, the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s Fashion Design and Merchandising program students interpret his classic obra maestras.

Curated by Center for Campus Art Director Architect Gerry Torres, the much-anticipated display was launched on Aug. 31.

The opening of Valera and the Modern: An Exhibit on the Life and Work of National Artist for Fashion Design coincided with the designer’s birthday and, likewise, marked his 45th death anniversary.

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Valera’s work was set against Modernism, the design paradigm in the Philippines prevalent during the Post-War period. 

OBRA MAESTRA. The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde showcases the Philippine ternos and long gowns of (from left) Luz Banzon Magsaysay, Carmen Paraiso Zulueta, Delza Lazatin, and Elvira Manahan, among others made by National Artist for Fashion Design Ramon Valera in ‘Valera and the Modern’ exhibit.  

Examples of the scale models and old photographs of the art, architecture, interior graphics, and furniture design from the period spanning from the 1950s to 1970s are shown to situate Valera in the context of a country recovering from the war and how design was utilized in forging the identity of a newly declared nation. 

Event partner Tantoco-Rustia Foundation President Zenaida Tantoco together with art patron Danny Dolor, restoration and conservation specialist Tats Manahan, family of Jose Carlos Garcia-Campos, the designer’s niece and nephew Peching Zulueta-Gomez and Bambi Zulueta are instrumental in loaning the long gowns, and assisted in sourcing pieces owned by prominent families. Gomez and Zulueta provided family memorabilia of their uncle.

A favorite of many of the country’s elite when it came to formal Filipiniana, Ramon Valera’s name invokes the look that has been identified as being uniquely Filipino. 

The exhibit likewise introduces his innovations in fashion design to the latter generation. As inspired by Valera, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s Fashion Design and Merchandising program students designed and interpreted his classic terno.

The show is the first La Sallian production on Valera, an alumnus of then-De La Salle College and the recipient of the 2007 DLSAA (De La Salle Alumni Association) Distinguished Lasallian Awardee.

Valera and the Modern is on view until Oct. 14.

For inquiries and details, contact the Center for Campus Art at 230-5100 local 3849 or email campus.art@benilde.edu.ph.

Valera and the Modern is at the SDA Gallery, 12th floor of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts (SDA) Campus, 950 Pablo Ocampo Street, Malate, Manila.

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