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Monday, March 9

Spending My Saturday at an Art Gallery


How often can you say that in just one morning, you got to view the gist of Philippine history inside one gallery? I was fortunate enough to do just that. Inside the Gateway Tower in Araneta Center, there is this huge art gallery housing about 30 large-scale paintings, made by UP alumni artists. The exhibit features the sequential artwork of how the Philippines came to be as it is now. 

The project was 5 years in the making, and the exhibit is the outcome of extraordinary hard work and successful collaboration, and of course, immeasurable talent. 


Galleon Trade by Jonahmar Salvosa was one of my favorite pieces. His interpretation of the Galleon Trade is so colorful and dreamy. In Philippine history, galleons are these big ships that bring goods to and from Manila. The Galleon Trade was a means of income for the Spaniards in the Philippines. They trade silk and other Chinese goods in Mexico.


Another one of my favorites is Celebration by Romy Carlos. It depicts the fiestas, or celebrations of thanksgiving, happening all over the country. They usually are held in honor of a town's patron saint, hence the different religious characters. What I love about this painting is its composition and flow. There is an abundance of information about fiestas without being too cluttered.



Sining Saysay
The Gateway Gallery
5/F Gateway Tower Mall, Araneta Center, 
Cubao, Quezon City
(Hours: 11am - 7pm)

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