Pamana Talks
Friday, February 19, 2021 | 6:30 PM – 8 PM
Grupo Kalinangan
Just a few kilometers away from the nation’s capital is the town of Angono in Rizal: an artist’s paradise where countless works of local art can be seen and enjoyed. From the oldest known form of Philippine visual art called the Angono Petroglyphs, to the magnificent paintings of Michael Blanco, as well as the town’s various cultural elements and its creative industries, it seemed that art is embedded in the DNA of the townsfolk’s daily lives. Established in 1766 as a Spanish pueblo, it grew to prominence as the home to various Filipino painters from the colonial era, all the way to the present. Just mention the names of Juan Senson, Jose “Pitok” Blanco and Carlos “Botong” Francisco, and mental images of native, provincial art will harken all Filipinos to come to this so-called “Art Capital of the Philippines”.
We bring you the town of Angono on our 3rd installation of Pamana Talks for the month of February, with our guest speaker James Owen Saguinsin, Founder and Director of Angono Cultural Heritage Office, who will grace our webinar with a very interesting talk about his town’s most interesting artworks, and how the local government and its citizens celebrate and promote its art and culture to the world. Mr. Saguinsin will also share to us his office’s best practices about arts and cultural management to aspiring cultural offices around the country. This webinar is on Friday, February 19, 2021, 6:30pm-8:00pm, and shall be streamed via Facebook Live and on our official Grupo Kalinangan Youtube channel.
Registration to the webinar is free, and all registered participants shall receive a Certificate of Participation upon submission of the feedback form after the webinar. Limited seats only.
You may also make a donation to Grupo Kalinangan as part of your registration. Your donation will help us continue our drive and mission to promote and preserve our Philippine culture and heritage. We thank you for your continued support!
ABOUT JAMES OWEN SAGUINSIN
James Owen Gragera Saguinsin is an associate professor at the Far Eastern University, where he taught Art Appreciation, Humanities, Literature, and History. He also served as Chairman of the Department of Literature and Humanities from 2010 to 2012, and was a consistent recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award. Apart from being a professor, he is also the director and founder of the Angono Cultural Heritage Office which focuses on preserving the town’s cultural identity. In the year 2000, he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Studies from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, where he also obtained his Masters Degree in Art History six years later.
Through his undergraduate thesis entitled “Buhay at mga Gawa ni Juan Senson”, Senson’s artworks were exhibited at the St. Clement Parish Church in 2001. His masteral thesis entitled “Juan Senson at Pedro Pinon: Mga Di-Kilalang Manlilikha ng Sining noong Panahon ng Kolonyalismong Kastila at Americano” eventually led to an exhibition of Juan Senson’s works at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in 2009 entitled “Juan Senson: 19th Century Master of Angono”. For his achievements as an art historian, he was awarded the Natatanging Alumni Award by the UP Diliman College of Arts and Letters in 2018.
