What I’ve been brewing

Spice Market, Istanbul

I just noticed that I haven’t posted anything since January 9th of this year. It’s a little hard to write something when you’re traveling because you’re distracted by the 101 things you need to do while you’re living abroad temporarily and the vastly different social life you’re suddenly exposed to. The other reason for my lack of posts is that I find it difficult to write about my travels because the “words” are not flowing. I did write about some of my activities related to my school supplies program. You’ll find this here: balaynicharie.blogspot.com.

Bucovina, Northern Romania

I do have quite a few travel articles in the burner. These are about my visits to Bucovina with its unique painted churches, my trips to Brazil and the beautiful coastline of Uruguay as well as my experiences in the incredible country of Turkey, the breathtaking landscapes of northern Taiwan and the Water Village of Brunei. I’m so grateful to have been able to do some traveling these past few months. Please come back and check out my future posts.

Brunei

*****

Images by TravelswithCharie

The Philippine Village Life by Vicente Silva Manansala

Pamilya (Family) With the completion of their new headquarters in Manila in 1961, PhilAm Life (a life insurance company) commissioned Vicente Silva Manansala to do a series of paintings for their cafeteria. (Lucky employees!) Before long these seven large-scale paintings about Philippine village life were moved to the front lobby which was deemed a more appropriate setting for the canvases. They remained there until the building was sold in 2012. Mindful of the cultural significance of the paintings and the need for its preservation and conservation, the management of PhilAm Life decided to loan these treasures to the National Museum in 2014. “Pamilya reflects Filipino values of family solidarity and solemnity showing a common scenario of praying before sharing a meal with one’s family.” National Museum of the Philippines Pagkain (Food) One of the Thirteen Moderns and Neo Realists, Vicente Silva Manansala had the good fortune to study art in Canada, the United States, France and Switz...

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was...

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called Kasaysayan ng Maynila (History of Manila). The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and...

TravelswithCharie

Search This Blog