Author: cfawebadmin

𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫
March 27, 2024

As a university-based gallery dedicated to creative pedagogy and practice, the UP Fine Arts Gallery (Parola) affirms how art, learning, and emancipatory practice are interconnected. We ended the First Semester of the Academic Year (AY) 2023-2024 last January with 45 projects, consisting of 18 art exhibitions, 16 talks and/or workshops, and 11 events. We warmly welcomed the Second Semester of AY 2023-2024 last February with continuous programming centered on the celebration of the arts, gender, and their vital role in asserting development and rights. 

We opened National Arts Month with eight exhibitions and daily workshops, artist talks, discussions, drawing and art production sessions. These exhibits are Empires of Memory, The Aesthetics of Engagement, Warm Bodies: Defending the Right to Dissent, Bawal ang Malungkot: Retrospective Series of Jose Alberto Tañedo (1953-2021), Dito at Doon: UPCFA Annual Students’ Show, Walk in her Shoes, Maglingkod at Magpahinungod, and Bisita Planeta. These highlighted the innovative and interdisciplinary works of our undergraduate and MFA students and faculty and the creative practice of social movements across Philippine history. 

We put the spotlight on the importance of National Women’s Month with the group exhibitions Lulan, Ulila, Liham, Alaga, Naman, organized by the ILCP Art Space based in Negros Oriental, Matereality, group exhibit on the diverse visual languages of women artists, and Reflections on Visibility, featuring selections from the Permanent Collection of the UP College of Fine Arts. This was complemented with weekend and Monday activities organized by the artists and gender advocates. 

We express gratitude for the strong support of our partner institutions, organizations, and individuals, the untiring efforts of the FA Gallery staff, interns and student assistants, and the guidance of Dean Marc San Valentin and College Secretary Manolo Sicat, the department chairs, preventive conservation expert June Poticar-Dalisay, and Gallery Committee members Prof. Mitzi Marie Aguilar-Reyes, Assoc. Prof. Jamel Obnamia, Assoc. Prof. Dayang Yraola, Asst. Prof. Sandra Dans, Mr. Rommel Joson, Mr. Ian Carlo Jaucian, and Assoc. Prof. Fortunato Dela Peña. As we prepare for the Lenten and Reading Breaks, we invite you all to continue participating in Parola’s programs when we resume with new events and exhibits in April.

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𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐈𝐭𝐨–𝐓𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐠 (Lisa Ito) is a cultural worker, writer, and curator. Since August 2023, she has been serving as the curator of the UP Fine Arts Gallery (Parola), the official exhibition site and creative compound of the UP College of Fine Arts, UP Diliman. 

She is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Theory, where she has been teaching art history, theory, and criticism since 2012. She also heads the CFA Gender and Development (GAD) Committee, which received the Gawad Kasarian 2023 recognition from the UP Diliman Gender Office. She received her B Fine Arts (Art History) from the UPCFA and her Master of Arts in Art Studies (Art History) from the UP College of Arts and Letters. 

She was the Chairperson of the Young Critics Circle Film Desk in 2017-2018. Since 2019, she has been serving as the Secretary-General of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP), an organization of progressive artists founded in 1983. She served as a panelist for the recently concluded 12th KRITIKA La Salle National Workshop on Art and Cultural Criticism in Iloilo.

📷 :Viggo Sarmago, Intern