Makabayan teachers learn art

Around 50 teachers of Makabayan in public elementary and high schools in Cebu participated in a two-day workshop on Philippine art on Oct. 27 and 28.

The Herencia Lectures, organized by the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Foundation and the Filipinas Heritage Library in cooperation with the Department of Education, aimed to address the lack of art education projects and training programs for teachers of art in the country.

It is based on the coffee table book, Herencia: A Legacy of Art and Progress, which contains in-depth reviews of nearly 1,000 important works of art accumulated by BPI in the course of its mergers and acquisitions since the 1970s.

The Cebu program was the second in a series of lectures that are part of the bank’s 160th anniversary celebration.

The first Herencia lectures was held for Makati City public school teachers in May tackled the history of Philippine art from the colonial to contemporary times.

Discussions on art appreciation, the practice of art and the concept of art patronage were facilitated by renowned artists Brenda Fajardo, Cid Reyes and Don Salubayba, while the workshop on creating art-oriented lesson plans and classroom activities was led by art educator Ma. Lourdes Nazareno-Roque.

The Herencia Lectures was held at the recently inaugurated BPI Museum in Cebu on Magallanes corner P. Burgos Streets, Cebu City.

BPI’s earliest art venture was the design of the Philippines’ first bank note, known as the pesos fuertes, issued in 1852.

The Herencia book explores the BPI art collection which represents nearly all periods, styles, and genres significant to Philippine visual art history.

National artists Fernando Amorsolo, Jose Joya, Cesar Legaspi and H.R. Ocampo are featured, as well as modern artists Macario Vitalis, Dominador Castañeda and Victorio Edades.

The book is the first collaboration of art and literati giants Dr. Jaime Laya, former governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines; University of the Philippines professors Alice Guillermo and Ma. Victoria Herrera; artist and art critic Cid Reyes; and Ramon N. Villegas, who conceived and edited the book, which was published in 2008.