Malaya Magazine On Nelia

Yuletide Events at the CCP http://www.malaya.com.ph/dec14/livi3.htm FIFTEEN beautifully-crafted lanterns from Bauan, Batangas will be on exhibit dubbed "Pistahang Parulan," starting today until January 7, 2006 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Admission is free. The works of art won top prizes at a Lantern Contest held recently at the Bauan High School (BHS) which for the past 28 years, has celebrated Christmas with a competition wherein students hone their talents by producing art works made from indigenous materials. This year’s prize-winning lanterns are made from betel nut, garlic cloves, rice stalks, fish scales, monggo, leaves, glass and mirrors. Twin towering pillars of Christmas cheer likewise greet culture vultures as they pass through the portals of CCP. Artfully positioned under the three chandeliers at the lobby, the delicately slender trees bask in their brilliant glow, while from the branches pinpoints of light lend twinkles to the peach angle trumpets, clear balls with gold latticework and gold pine needles. This glittering scene is repeated throughout the lobby with a stretch of garland that leads to the auditorium. A huge wreath shimmers from the balcony while an urn perches at the foot of the winding stairs with gold balls and floral petals. The creator of this holiday décor is Miguel Sandoval, an artist whose creative force molded a young company importing artificial flowers and Christmas decor, into FloraSilk, one of the country’s biggest suppliers today. Celebrate and relieve the spirit of Christmas with dawn masses from December 16-24 (5 a.m.) and December 24 (9 p.m.) at the Folk Arts Theater grounds. Spearheaded by the CCP, the event is held in cooperation with the CCP partner-hermanas such as the Coconut Palace, Philippine Navy, Manila Broadcasting Corporation/Star City, Gloriamaris Restaurant, Product Development and Design Center of the Philippines, Philippine Exhibit and Teampark Corporation (PETCO), Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Highlights for the 9 p.m. mass sponsored by the CCP and the CCP Complex Employes Organization, and Amazing Theater Philippines on December 24 are performances by the CCP’s resident companies. For more information, call 832 1125 loc. 1412. Finally, following the 1st Terra Cotta Festival held in Dumaguete City last May, the works of four Visayas-based artists will be featured in the Dula Sa Lapuk (Claystutf) Traveling Art Exhibition at the CCP on December 15 until January 16, 2006. Widely acclaimed visual artist Kitty Taniguchi, Dumaguete-based Danilo Sollesta and Mark Valenzuela and Mariyah Gallery artist-inresidence Nelia Lungay have put together a collection of small and large sculptural pieces and installations tackling diverse subjects – some with social realist flavours, individual statements and metaphysical musings. Curator Bobi Valenzuela, ardent exponent of the visual Arts Movement in the Visayas, will put together the whole collection at CCP’s Pasilyo Victorio Edades, with Eileen Ramirez Legazpi to pen the cataloguer write-up on the artists, complemented by photo journalist Melvyn Calderon’s superb stills. The art exhibition is a sequel to the "Dula Sa Lapuk" art exhibition held at Mariyah Gallery during the Terra Cotta Biennale, which generated ample interest from artists, clay aficionados and travelers from various parts of the country to fly in to Dumaguete City. The CCP is located along Roxas Blvd., Pasay City. Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Mondays and holidays. Admission is free.