‘The Woman Who Left’ by Lav Diaz Wins 73rd Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu8IyG9d2PwZ1zt5T_Uc-7TTY_YcRGJCzOSSXliGqIb-gUth1nB8-IgX3JgE526nZKpxmvDTWWNSJNUJtgUErQglEYza82c2711O1QXwASGbyGonMhL8HH3m_yYa7oz4VwsWhOwVHWMPo/s1600/Woman+Who+Left.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu8IyG9d2PwZ1zt5T_Uc-7TTY_YcRGJCzOSSXliGqIb-gUth1nB8-IgX3JgE526nZKpxmvDTWWNSJNUJtgUErQglEYza82c2711O1QXwASGbyGonMhL8HH3m_yYa7oz4VwsWhOwVHWMPo/s400/Woman+Who+Left.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: large;">VENICE, Italy — “The Woman Who Left,” a revenge drama by Filipino auteur Lav Diaz about the struggle of a wrongly convicted schoolteacher in the outside world after 30 years behind bars, is the winner of the 73rd Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion.<br /><br />Shot in black and white and lasting nearly four hours “Woman Who Left” was praised by Variety critic Guy Lodge as a “powerful and, by his [Diaz’s] standards, refreshingly contained moral study.”<br /><br />“This is for my country, for the Filipino people; for our struggle and the struggle of humanity,” said Diaz, as he thanked the jury headed by Sam Mendes.<br /><br />“The Woman Who Left,” is also a comeback for Charo Santos-Concio, in a remarkable return to the screen after two decades in the production realm and as media executive, host, occasional actress, television and film producer, and host of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maalaala_Mo_Kaya" title="Maalaala Mo Kaya">Maalaala Mo Kaya</a></i>, the longest-running television drama anthology in Asia. <br /><br />In the movie, for Horacia (Charo Santos-Concio), the Philippines of the late 1990s is not the same country she knew 30 years before, when she was sentenced to life in a women’s correctional facility for a murder she did not commit. She’s unexpectedly released when fellow inmate and best friend Petra (Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino) suddenly confesses that she, coerced by Horacia’s ex-boyfriend Rodrigo, framed her for the crime all those years ago.<br /><br />Working once more in rich but unromantic black and white, Lav Diaz’s cinematography is the film’s other most constant reward.<br /><br /></span><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3629012486930784822&postID=7999652176449665805&target=facebook" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8VZfdyGqGxYxPWoelwmGbf0QFLIKAuJeUY4gkUrOuG0ypMqSfMCY5oXqRyQNoFBeMj4-rf3fO2HSZuuzFh6RfAhiQUOB0mhu1FMnZNnkfdasfJ-Tjd3cZm3lh88B0ouKAVkPXVh278OA/s1600/sharefb185.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3629012486930784822&postID=7999652176449665805&target=twitter" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3bfhc90-5xenm9-eqI_ICgI5V8KPl28Gu8oXZsvNDA_oIk8ioAazonJE38acYIiOnSDyuPWj6zn-8wCMPPY5TMVVENEoNk2PfH73eNX5qkEIkvLossHYwU848ikKXjhyr1MRuJIjmFo/s1600/sharetw185.png" /></a></div> <br />

Art Events Europe Film Festival-Venice Italy ‘The Woman Who Left’ by Lav Diaz Wins 73rd Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion

VENICE, Italy — “The Woman Who Left,” a revenge drama by Filipino auteur Lav Diaz about the struggle of a wrongly convicted schoolteacher ...

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Marco Polo: An Untold Love Story

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5nJ0zLXxI1g4J3CFirTfRwP0QVKUaQNyLz4dPwduSI44xvyhnE9yNzd2_mAdhYxcDVh0qYLIdPTGSVpp51dKKxLZVeHBhBdedAFkCW4thrKM69yi1D7Ki8suQ9zqVKVlXguK7jA49Ynl/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5nJ0zLXxI1g4J3CFirTfRwP0QVKUaQNyLz4dPwduSI44xvyhnE9yNzd2_mAdhYxcDVh0qYLIdPTGSVpp51dKKxLZVeHBhBdedAFkCW4thrKM69yi1D7Ki8suQ9zqVKVlXguK7jA49Ynl/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: large;">Marco Polo: An Untold Story heralds the arrival in August 2016 of the first major British-Philippine musical theatre production on the London stage. With words and music composed in their entirety by Roger Saldo Chua, the noted Filipino-Belgian singer-actor, the production has evolved and gained momentum since it was first unveiled to a small audience in New York. Chua’s sentimental attachment to a reimagined episode in the life of the legendary 13th century Venetian explorer has grown into a full-blown lyrique musicale; international preview performances in Manila and Paris during the past year have been warmly received. In London, the show is scheduled to run from 5th August to 4th September 2016 at the Shaw Theatre.</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;">An East-West romance in the purest sense, Marco Polo: An Untold Story is a tale of heroism in the service of true love, one with timeless, cross-cultural and intergenerational appeal. The international cast, hand-picked by Chua comprises some of the finest musical talents working in the theatre today. The show is well paced and compelling, with a beautiful, memorable score. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;">Attached are additional information (including photographs taken at the recent Reflections of the Lord Mayor Dinner where we promoted the show),  but the production has been announced widely in the theatre press, including:</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;">Theatre News.com - <a href="http://www.theatre-news.com/news/UK/36088/Marco-Polo-An-Untold-Love-Story-to-premiere-in-London">http://www.theatre-news.com/news/UK/36088/Marco-Polo-An-Untold-Love-Story-to-premiere-in-London</a></span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">TNT Magazine - <a href="http://www.tntmagazine.com/london/london-to-host-world-premiere-of-new-musical-marco-polo">http://www.tntmagazine.com/london/london-to-host-world-premiere-of-new-musical-marco-polo</a></span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">Time Out - <a href="http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/marco-polo-an-untold-love-story">http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/marco-polo-an-untold-love-story</a></span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">Musical Theatre Review - <a href="http://musicaltheatrereview.com/tag/marco-polo-an-untold-love-story/">http://musicaltheatrereview.com/tag/marco-polo-an-untold-love-story/</a></span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;">Gina McAdam </span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">External Affairs Director</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">Marco Polo: An Untold Love Story</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">07879648930</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">Linkedin:  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/gina-mcadam/2/838/7a0">https://www.linkedin.com/pub/gina-mcadam/2/838/7a0</a></span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">Gina McAdam is a Freeman of the City of London and the Worshipful Company of Marketors</span> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3629012486930784822&postID=1748949731916957838&target=facebook" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8VZfdyGqGxYxPWoelwmGbf0QFLIKAuJeUY4gkUrOuG0ypMqSfMCY5oXqRyQNoFBeMj4-rf3fO2HSZuuzFh6RfAhiQUOB0mhu1FMnZNnkfdasfJ-Tjd3cZm3lh88B0ouKAVkPXVh278OA/s1600/sharefb185.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3629012486930784822&postID=1748949731916957838&target=twitter" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3bfhc90-5xenm9-eqI_ICgI5V8KPl28Gu8oXZsvNDA_oIk8ioAazonJE38acYIiOnSDyuPWj6zn-8wCMPPY5TMVVENEoNk2PfH73eNX5qkEIkvLossHYwU848ikKXjhyr1MRuJIjmFo/s1600/sharetw185.png" /></a></div>

Art Articles England Events UK News Marco Polo: An Untold Love Story

Marco Polo: An Untold Story heralds the arrival in August 2016 of the first major British-Philippine musical theatre production on the Lon...

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David Medalla Shines at Royal Academy of Art

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpD7O1RY-nqxgLRzcA08a_1TRIdSBRTyIaXuzwe7IgW3j5NpUo5WtVY4cPPHogkmndUEHmsE3nUltwzbf23Hw2XadQGKkqMaTBLqTnrcXZfqqr9ofjGNVbQt-ALkc__Jax2gmRj8h_WQ7/s1600/twznz0xugpzblglztuqp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpD7O1RY-nqxgLRzcA08a_1TRIdSBRTyIaXuzwe7IgW3j5NpUo5WtVY4cPPHogkmndUEHmsE3nUltwzbf23Hw2XadQGKkqMaTBLqTnrcXZfqqr9ofjGNVbQt-ALkc__Jax2gmRj8h_WQ7/s320/twznz0xugpzblglztuqp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: large;">In his show held at the GSK Contemporary exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art in London, Filipino painter David Medalla showed why he is considered one of the top Filipino and indeed international artists of his time.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">His exhibited works at the famed Academy included a huge painting of Filipino fishermen at midnight, a virtual sculpture of Venus de Milo, and a handpainted silk scarf.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">The oil painting on canvas entitled “Night Fishing On Manila Bay” measuring 326 cms width x 193 cms height, and composed of panels, covered a whole wall of the venue and viewers will need to go back a bit in order to view the whole landscape.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">David Medalla, the artist with his short white hair and silk scarf, said —  “Alam mo ito, gumawa ako ng 24 na mga paintings ng buhay sa atin mula sa bukid hanggang sa lungsod, magmula  sa umaga hanggang hatinggabi tapos umaga  na naman.  You know, sa liwayway ng araw.  Nag-umpisa sa bayan, nung hatinggabi ganyan, naging  turning point.  So it’s a celebration of life in our country.”</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">[Trans – “You know what, I made 24 paintings of life back home from the fields to the city, from morning to midnight until morning again.  You know, from the rising of the sun.  Starting from the town, then like this at midnight, it became a turning point.   So it’s a celebration of life in our country.”]</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">His Venus de Milo is meant for active participation of the gallery-goer in the way they interact with the virtual sculpture.  The way the participant poses gives the impression of giving the world famous sculpted woman arms and hands which would otherwise be missing.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">Medalla has been living in Europe for more than four decades, and is based in Bracknell, Berkshire.  Ever since he was a student at Columbia University in the 1950s he was already known for what he calls ‘visionary art’ and performance art.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">Guy Brett, the art critic & author and long time friend of Medalla, in his black beret and glasses, said  – “Yes, well I’ve known David since 1960.  I met him in 1960 when he first arrived in London from the Philippines and I followed all the different phases that his work has been through but I know that he’s always painted from the beginning from the time that he was a teenager in Manila and he’s still painting.  Every now and then he produces a painting which  somehow has a style which is not really  like anybody else’s. “</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> Looking at the fishermen painting, Brett said, “Ah so this is the first time I’ve seen this painting it tells me he’s still working on it.  It’s not finished yet.”</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">In addition to the Royal Academy, Medalla was also the first Filipino artist whose work was purchased by the Tate Modern in the Southbank, for the whopping sum of £30,000 (around Php 2-3 million).</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">This was “Cloud Canyons No. 3”, one in a series of his iconic “Bubble Machines”, which is now on permanent exhibit at the huge warehouse-like art repository by the River Thames.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">Another art historian/critic who was at Medalla’s opening, Alison Green, with her black swept back hair and dangling earrings, confirmed his role in modern art – “Ah I think this is a great opportunity to get to know David Medalla’s work.  Since the mid 1960’s David Medalla’s a major international figure in contemporary practice.  Except he’s done this by intentionally occupying the peripheries of art making and the art establishment and playing the provocateur in that relationship, ah challenging the viewers in terms of their preconceptions of art.”</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">She continued, “What’s interesting about him is his longevity, the fact that he has continued to be innovative and to respond to challenges to himself and to his work and to continue in a way to stay relevant to what is happening right now.  It’s a major achievement, I believe.”</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">Whilst his name is already known in modern art circles worldwide, Medalla continues to show his Filipino roots in his artistic creations, and on a more practical and nationalistic level, by continuing to hold on to his Philippine nationality and passport, despite having been a permanent resident of the United Kingdom for many years.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">Medalla was one of seven artists invited to bring out a limited edition of scarves so that art lovers attending the Academy exhibit could bring home an affordable souvenir with them.  Truly a limited edition, Medalla only produced 30 scarves and even at the rate of £120 each, the lot went very quickly.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">It would be very difficult indeed for any other artist to achieve what David Medalla has already done in international art, and with his exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art his name, and the country he represents, will take on extra brilliance.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: large;">[Written in November 2008]</span> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3629012486930784822&postID=7663346008666574577&target=facebook" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8VZfdyGqGxYxPWoelwmGbf0QFLIKAuJeUY4gkUrOuG0ypMqSfMCY5oXqRyQNoFBeMj4-rf3fO2HSZuuzFh6RfAhiQUOB0mhu1FMnZNnkfdasfJ-Tjd3cZm3lh88B0ouKAVkPXVh278OA/s1600/sharefb185.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3629012486930784822&postID=7663346008666574577&target=twitter" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3bfhc90-5xenm9-eqI_ICgI5V8KPl28Gu8oXZsvNDA_oIk8ioAazonJE38acYIiOnSDyuPWj6zn-8wCMPPY5TMVVENEoNk2PfH73eNX5qkEIkvLossHYwU848ikKXjhyr1MRuJIjmFo/s1600/sharetw185.png" /></a></div>

Art Articles Contributors England Events UK Gene Alcantara David Medalla Shines at Royal Academy of Art

In his show held at the GSK Contemporary exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art in London, Filipino painter David Medalla showed why he is...

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Federico Aguilar Alcuaz Finally Gets Conferment As National Artist

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAcyRDThMM-mpU0x_LkiVqkwjQYHJh9xSobt_hJTlK-IRtoSXo7mp2AlC8gFr_KFmknQiBaOzOXp4vt6xx78Cfab8D2MZpqMN61yD8l66rxwvHEv-yncjikKq2q4tT8ygDmdYE_Ezr_I/s1600/alcuaz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAcyRDThMM-mpU0x_LkiVqkwjQYHJh9xSobt_hJTlK-IRtoSXo7mp2AlC8gFr_KFmknQiBaOzOXp4vt6xx78Cfab8D2MZpqMN61yD8l66rxwvHEv-yncjikKq2q4tT8ygDmdYE_Ezr_I/s400/alcuaz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: large;">Master Artist Federico Aguilar Alcuaz will finally be conferred the National Artist Award on Thursday, April 14, 2016.  President Aquino will formally elevate nine people to the Order of the National Artists (ONA) in the largest conferment ceremonies yet since the awards started in 1972.<br /><br />Alcuaz was conferred the title of National Artist for Visual Arts, Painting, Sculpture and Mixed Media in 2009. However, four nominees for the award other than Alcuaz became embroiled in the 2009 National Artist of the Philippines Controversy, which led the Supreme Court of the Philippines to temporarily issue a status quo order on August 25, 2009, blocking the conferment of the awards on all seven nominees - despite the fact that no objections were ever raised regarding the conferment of the award to Alcuaz and two other nominees.<br /><br />Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932-2011) was one of the foremost Filipino modernist visual artists who excelled in virtually all genres—landscape, portrait, still life and abstract—and mediums—oil, acrylic, mixed media, even tapestry.<br /><br />Alcuaz was born on June 6, 1932 in Santa Cruz, Manila. He was the 6th of 11 Children of Mariano Aguilar a Lawyer and a Musician and Encarnacion Alcuaz. He finished early schooling at the Dr. Albert Elementary School and San Beda High School. He studied law at the Ateneo de Manila and finished his degree in 1955. In 1949–1950 he took up painting subjects at the University of the Philippines (UP) School of Fine Arts. In 1955 he went to Madrid with a scholarship at the Academia de San Fernando which he got through the help of the Jesuits from the Ateneo de Manila. In 1956 he chose Barcelona as his career base.He also became a member of the La Punalada Group which counted among its members Tàpies, Cuixart and Tharrats. In the same year he began signing his paintings with Aguilar Alcuaz to distinguish himself from two other Aguilars who are also members of the La Punalada Group. In 1959, he met Ute Schmitz, a woman from Hamburg, Germany, whom he married 3 years later and they had 3 sons: Christian, Andreas and Matthias.<br /><br />A bon vivant and well-traveled, Aguilar maintained studios in Barcelona, Paris and Manila and exhibited extensively internationally and whose work earned him recognition both in the Philippines and abroad.<br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span><br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3629012486930784822&postID=2994850459028120325&target=facebook" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8VZfdyGqGxYxPWoelwmGbf0QFLIKAuJeUY4gkUrOuG0ypMqSfMCY5oXqRyQNoFBeMj4-rf3fO2HSZuuzFh6RfAhiQUOB0mhu1FMnZNnkfdasfJ-Tjd3cZm3lh88B0ouKAVkPXVh278OA/s1600/sharefb185.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3629012486930784822&postID=2994850459028120325&target=twitter" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3bfhc90-5xenm9-eqI_ICgI5V8KPl28Gu8oXZsvNDA_oIk8ioAazonJE38acYIiOnSDyuPWj6zn-8wCMPPY5TMVVENEoNk2PfH73eNX5qkEIkvLossHYwU848ikKXjhyr1MRuJIjmFo/s1600/sharetw185.png" /></a></span></div> <br />

Art Events News Philippines Stories Travel Travel-PH Federico Aguilar Alcuaz Finally Gets Conferment As National Artist

Master Artist Federico Aguilar Alcuaz will finally be conferred the National Artist Award on Thursday, April 14, 2016.  President Aquino w...

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Exploring "Millionaire's Row" in Bacolod City

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiQrPSU_iEiErRu5F1tvPE1wRq6S8QxcNn3GkjFDqldA4f7UBG0iA0w6Jl3m8BdHcGgnQeCW_P5txNW1N8vbtJlSKJqJhJgM6EOHBNsTdUGHQKNl9vbD2fIk7JpuAungyjslRfrqjRkZo/s1600/villanueva04.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEindVgVgK_47vumbw_LEZiOom2-u-wZY62agxNlOiuvKMXeWA_lqgBxRPoduskk0VY6eGG-ihMx5hSrSYCDEmny3BH8aGErAOS4K3JNRzdC8zp0WDPCElCVsNgTlcnRTSCJstt0YIHiMhQ/s1600/bighouse.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEindVgVgK_47vumbw_LEZiOom2-u-wZY62agxNlOiuvKMXeWA_lqgBxRPoduskk0VY6eGG-ihMx5hSrSYCDEmny3BH8aGErAOS4K3JNRzdC8zp0WDPCElCVsNgTlcnRTSCJstt0YIHiMhQ/s1600/bighouse.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />Heritage conservation advocates are totally aghast at the ongoing demolition of the Carlos Palanca mansion in Pasay.  This comes just a few months after the Army and Navy Club and the Admiral Hotel fell prey to the wreckers of Manila's historic architectural icons.  To those who remember the wonderful edifices of Manila's glorious past, the current spate of demolitions are really a nightmare.</span><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiQrPSU_iEiErRu5F1tvPE1wRq6S8QxcNn3GkjFDqldA4f7UBG0iA0w6Jl3m8BdHcGgnQeCW_P5txNW1N8vbtJlSKJqJhJgM6EOHBNsTdUGHQKNl9vbD2fIk7JpuAungyjslRfrqjRkZo/s1600/villanueva04.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiQrPSU_iEiErRu5F1tvPE1wRq6S8QxcNn3GkjFDqldA4f7UBG0iA0w6Jl3m8BdHcGgnQeCW_P5txNW1N8vbtJlSKJqJhJgM6EOHBNsTdUGHQKNl9vbD2fIk7JpuAungyjslRfrqjRkZo/s1600/villanueva04.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /> <span style="font-size: medium;">One cannot say the same though of Bacolod City, the premier city in the Philippines' Sugar Bowl.  This summer of 2015, tourists from Metro Manila and all over the country will visit Negros Island, the Sweet Spot of the Philippines and have a glimpse of Bacolod's fabled glory days.  This is due to the revitalization of a small strip of houses known back in the 1930s as "Millionaire's Row".</span><br /> <span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">For those who arrive in Bacolod City and follow what is usually written on travel books and blogs, the usual stops are the Negros Museum, the Provincial Capitol of Negros Occidental, and the Ruins (Mariano Lacson Mansion) which is technically located in the next city of Talisay.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">What is often missed in Bacolod is a street which was once known as Millionaire's Row.  This street is hardly publicized because most tour guides can only reach back to Bacolod's glory days of the 1960s and the 1970s.  The importance of this street goes back to the pre-war decade of the 1930s.</span><br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_YZ0rL4huzt78d1saQ-dyZwxD_gcNFeBhxO1_VviiuqrJVdAp-8vogkbyajmRfT4bKEkC_EO0A7-FxAp7H8m2wrerSE8AMvP-nD4csUsZ34D4ei9i-q-_iYTSJyfWGXuzQswb2w3k-EC/s1600/villanueva05.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_YZ0rL4huzt78d1saQ-dyZwxD_gcNFeBhxO1_VviiuqrJVdAp-8vogkbyajmRfT4bKEkC_EO0A7-FxAp7H8m2wrerSE8AMvP-nD4csUsZ34D4ei9i-q-_iYTSJyfWGXuzQswb2w3k-EC/s1600/villanueva05.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="font-size: medium;">It was back in the 1930s when Generoso M. Villanueva, a prominent sugar planter, and his wife Paz, built the first art deco  structure in Bacolod City. Designed solely by the owner, the three-story, poured-concrete steel reinforced building with graceful curved balconies, parapets, and porthole steel-cased windows looks like the Titanic on land. It was known among the locals as the Boat House. Among family, though, it was simply called Daku Balay (the big house).</span><br /> <span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">On the same street, another similar daku balay (big house) also shows the glorious past of Negros and Bacolod City.  This is the house of <a href="http://www.sweetspotphilippines.com/2015/03/a-visit-to-don-mariano-ramos-ancestral.html" target="_blank">Don Mariano Ramos</a>.</span><br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsr4TlQOJOBBSdGbiT3KEU8eH2Kq4arWukyOQ0-Lq83hL-xl0hcQP2zmW629tpPaAK3CF5Tn4ABZMuWg6SWanWVTSrTiTh0IDqXlatkvsRVkJz-tDU24G7eFbhn9bf5cqSZOgPAAUFmk/s1600/Burgossepia350.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsr4TlQOJOBBSdGbiT3KEU8eH2Kq4arWukyOQ0-Lq83hL-xl0hcQP2zmW629tpPaAK3CF5Tn4ABZMuWg6SWanWVTSrTiTh0IDqXlatkvsRVkJz-tDU24G7eFbhn9bf5cqSZOgPAAUFmk/s1600/Burgossepia350.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: medium;">Mariano Ramos was among the first Presidente Municipals appointed in Bacolod City.  At that time, Bacolod was not yet chartered as a city and thus did not have any mayor yet.  Mariano Ramos was a former classmate of Manuel L. Quezon in Letran and the late president did stop by this house often during his many trips to Negros Island.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Between the two mansions mentioned are other houses which are resplendent of Bacolod's decadent pre-war past.  It is of little wonder then that during the Japanese occupation in World War 2, the head of the Japanese Imperial Army, headed by General Takeshi Kono, took over the houses in Millionaire's Row as these two houses had the tallest miradors (viewing towers) to observe the city from all directions.</span><br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">The Japanese Imperial Army commanded all forces occupying Negros from Millionaire's Row until the surrender in August 1945.</span></div> <span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">The street known as Millionaire's Row is commonly known today as Burgos Street.  In the same manner that one visits Lombard Street (the most crooked street in the world) in San Francisco, or the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, or Las Ramblas in Barcelona, one should not miss Burgos Street when in Bacolod City.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">All mansions can be viewed from the street as these are all still closed to the public, except one which is the currently run as a museum, the Dizon-Ramos Museum.</span><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />Photo credits to Voltaire Siacor (Villanueva Art Deco House) and Lloyd Tronco (Mariano Ramos House)</span></i> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3629012486930784822&postID=3325184995869142004&target=facebook" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8VZfdyGqGxYxPWoelwmGbf0QFLIKAuJeUY4gkUrOuG0ypMqSfMCY5oXqRyQNoFBeMj4-rf3fO2HSZuuzFh6RfAhiQUOB0mhu1FMnZNnkfdasfJ-Tjd3cZm3lh88B0ouKAVkPXVh278OA/s1600/sharefb185.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=3629012486930784822&postID=3325184995869142004&target=twitter" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3bfhc90-5xenm9-eqI_ICgI5V8KPl28Gu8oXZsvNDA_oIk8ioAazonJE38acYIiOnSDyuPWj6zn-8wCMPPY5TMVVENEoNk2PfH73eNX5qkEIkvLossHYwU848ikKXjhyr1MRuJIjmFo/s1600/sharetw185.png" /></a></div>

Art Cribs Miscellaneous Travel Travel-PH Exploring "Millionaire's Row" in Bacolod City

Heritage conservation advocates are totally aghast at the ongoing demolition of the Carlos Palanca mansion in Pasay.  This comes just a ...

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