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For the past 17 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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Jersey City, NEW JERSEY --- To observe the paintings of Filipino artist Art Zamora is to be captivated with its brilliant colors, vivid strokes and inner feelings.
“Art is a self-_expression. It shows my stability and my way of thinking,” said Zamora.
Zamora, and two other Filipino artists – Sam Santamaria and Freida Pecardal, joined in the 15th annual Jersey City Artists Studio tour, held last Saturday and Sunday (October 1 and 2), in 100 venues and with 375 artists participating in eclectic mix of paintings.
The art exhibit showcases the diverse artworks and allows artists to show their talents in their chosen medium to reflect their creativity.
Zamora, a known abstract impressionist, showcased his flower painting and a series of window paintings in watercolor and oil paint.
Zamora believes the medium is the body and the spirit and the soul, is the artist. His works and ideas were influenced by French masters like Claude Monet. But his strokes showed traces of its oriental culture that makes him more of a modified realist, and impressionist painter.
For many years, he has been painting landscapes. He believes that landscapes give him spiritual refinement, his feeling, affection and aspirations. But he is moving towards becoming a modern artist and exhibited his abstract paintings at the Art Studio 2005.
One of his abstract painting on displayed showed dark colors of black, brown, blue and gold. Others are in vibrant colors of green and blue. His strokes can be rough and his lines are free flowing.
Zamora was the founder of Art Channel Kapwa Pilipino, Association of Filipino Jewelry Designer and Concern Artist in New Visual Art Style.
“I’m painting not because I’m intelligent but because it helps me to think and to relax. Its my natural high,” said Zamora.
Sam Santamaria is a known impressionist artist who has woven environmental concerns and musical insight with allegory in his paintings.
“The visual interpretation of themes that I have worked on separately in recent years–mythology, music and the environment-has taken a significant development in my work. I’ve begun combining elements that were formerly distinct to each area, in a sense creating stories with more than a single plot. I hope to infuse into a lively play of colors and recognizable images the notions of irony or paradox-such as what we experience in our everyday lives,” said Santamaria.
In the exhibit shown on the corner of Marin Boulevard, Santamaria showed framed paintings of tropical beauty such as beaches, trees, flowers, sunset, emanating passionate energy.
His paintings have bold colors, such as blue, orange and green, showing his fantasy , starry dreams and his love to preserve nature. One painting showed brown trunks with green leaves, showing hope in nature and desire for harmony. He said when he painted the tropical designs, it brought back nostalgia of his life in the Philippines.
“Concern for environmental issues is evident in most of my work including the Marinescape Series. I draw a parallel to nature sending distress signals about an impaired environment,” Santamaria said.
“Four Season” is a wonderful hand-painted work of Freida Pecardal. It shows red, pink flowers with green leaves that could be designed on linen napkins, placemats, table cloths and other decorative purposes. She also hand-painted a red and white blossoming flowers arranged for a wedding, and beautiful paintings of fruits in red, brown and green.
Some of her hand-painted flowers were used by Godiva Chocolatier , Crabtree and Evelyn and other big companies for their cards, wraps and boxes.
She used water color and acrylic for her delicate paintings, emanating her gentle touch and familiar lines of mostly flowers and nature.
“I’m inspired to paint because I want to use the talent that God gave me,” My paintings show God’s creations,” said Pecardal.
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NEW YORK --- Kinding Sindaw’s latest dance drama “Sultan Kudarat,” (Lord Kudarat) resurrects the monumental story of the 17th century ruler and the people of Maguindanao (Flooded Plains) - from Sultan Kudarat’s ascendancy, his defeats by the Spaniards and rival sultans and to his eventual triumph, when he united virtually all of present-day Southern Philippines against Spanish colonialism.
“In the Philippine Archipelago, there had never been a native dominion as powerful and as extensive as that of Sultan Qudarat. No other native ruler had earned more love, respect, awe, and fear from his subjects and hatred and animosity from his enemies, the Spaniards, who nevertheless had on occasion grudgingly admired him,” said historian Cesar Majul in his book, “Muslims in the Philippines”.
“Sultan Kudarat” depicts Sultan Kudarat’s court, battles on land and in the many-branched Pulangi River, as well as the lives and traditions of the Maguindanao people.
Dancers, wearing vivid silk blouses and tube-like malong skirts tied around their waists, move with crisp hand movements accompanied by the fast, pulsating music of the kulingtang, “talking” gandingan gongs, the kudyapi lute and the dabakan drums.
Rhythmic bamboos represent the grand Pulangi River, the scene of many battles and skirmishes, and the life-source of Maguindanao.
Hypnotic “dayunday” chants also narrate the story of the Sultan and his people.
“Sultan Kudarat” is conceptualized and choreographed by Artistic Director Potri Ranka Manis, tradition-bearer and daughter of a Sultan of the Maranao people of Mindanao.
Kinding Sindaw (Dance of Light), founded in 1992 by Ranka Manis, is a resident repertory company at La MaMa, E.T.C, where it premiered the dance dramas “Rajah Mangandiri” to critical acclaim on December 2001, and “Lemlunay” on May 2003.
The company’s repertory is built upon the dances, music, and orature the T’boli, Maranao, Maguindanao, Yakan, Jama Mapun, Higaoonon, Tausug and Bagobo.
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Beginning on October 25th, the Filipino American Human Services, Inc. (FAHSI) will offer a 12-week Conversational Tagalog course at the Philippine Center in Manhattan, NY. The class will meet once a week on Tuesday nights, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
The course will provide college students, recent graduates, and young professionals lessons on conversational Tagalog, covering the basic rules of grammar, verbs, and common vocabulary.
In addition, there will be discussions on the history, culture, and business practices of Filipinos.
Classes will meet at the Philippine Center located at 556 Fifth Avenue (between 45th and 46th streets). Registration is $450/adults and $350/students, with valid student ID. Enrollment is limited and applicants are encouraged to sign up early. Payments are accepted by check and credit card payment (through PayPal).
For additional information, please contact Lara M.B. Manjares (917.951.7287, lmanjares@yahoo.com) or you may contact the FAHSI office at: 718.883.1295.
Filipino American Human Services, Inc. (FAHSI) is a non-profit organization established in 1993 to bridge the gaps in social services for the Filipino American community in the Greater New York Metropolitan Area.
FAHSI provides community-based programs which build upon culturally competent support structures for immigrants, youth, seniors and the growing Filipino American community in New York.
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