I haven't been to this particular mall in Parañaque City for a fairly long time and was glad that I did the other weekend. I did not know that it was there but I was able to catch the last day of the exhibit featuring great Filipino works. The exhibit was part of our celebration of the independence day which was on June 12th but the exhibit ran for two weeks.
The exhibit was in the middle of the floor where I noticed the many people taking photos. I can not get a good shot of the whole "landscape" so I went up the second floor and took this shot from there.
It was very good that the exhibit was staged on the area with open space up to the ceiling of the mall.
I went for my errands to the second building of the mall and came back to the exhibit after I was done. It was a much better timing because there were lesser people blocking my shots.
This is a stand that greets shoppers as they enter the mall. It made me think when I first read it. "Artisano?" I asked myself and got no answer. Artisan. I wondered what's the difference from artists. I went on to the next displays.
There were chairs at the front of the exhibit area where onlookers can take photos, be it selfie or groupie, and have the exhibit as their background. The chairs were where many people were taking turns earlier. There were fewer people on my return but there was a family with toddler who keeps running back and forth across the chairs. I waited for a while then a couple took over for their photo shoot. Okay, I am fine with this shot.
On both sides of the photoshoot chairs are booths that highlight Filipino delicacies, mostly sweetened and dried fruits.
At the back of the photoshoot chairs were these beautiful and elegant wood and metal works. The crafts do not have captions so I am not sure what they are exactly made of. I am not sure what type of wood the wood crafts were made of and if the metal crafts were made of copper or bronze. Regardless of the materials, they look so regal with the beautiful carving designs. I did not bother finding out the prices because it will be thousands of pesos each.
Of all those wood and metal crafts, this one caught my attention. The attendant was saying it is a vase but with that tower like design on the upper half, I wondered how it becomes a vase. She did not say anything further about it.
To the right side, going a little farther to the back are these colorful ladies accessories. Beads and scarfs. I have seen many bead products during my trips to beaches and seeing these reminds me of our very own Palawan where the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River (more commonly known as the Puerto Prinsesa Underground River) is and which Google celebrated recently. I can't figure which bead design, color and style to buy during my two visits to the place.
Now back to reality, I noticed the very artistic carving of the table. While I was seeing through the beads, the attendant stood to my left and said, "that is worth twenty two thousand pesos."
I was startled. I did not have the conversion value at that time but I was so sure that it is very expensive. Now that I did the conversion, it is around US $430.00. That is one piece of such price!
I thought she was referring to the beads so I asked, "which of these beads? Is there anything here that has gold to make it that expensive?"
"No, ma'am. It's the table."
"Aside from the carving, what's with the table that makes it so expensive?" Then I sat on my back to see the table's structure beneath. It has nice designs but still, I don't think it is worth the price.
Then the attendant said, "it's antique."
Okay, there goes the price. The older the antique, the more expensive it is. I no longer asked how old the table is.
To the right of the antique table are more bead products.
To the left of the table were dolls in glasses which were called "Sunduan" dolls. These were representation of the "Sunduan" festival being hosted by Parañaque every February. Sunduan came from the root word "sundo" which is;
The Filipino term for "fetching". This celebration in La Huerta features a parade of escorted young ladies holding colorful parasols. Brass bands fetch each pair and parade around the town. Source
The "Sunduan" relates to an old Filipino courtship custom in which the gentleman waits for his love one, accompanying her to the plaza and bringing her home.
There was a couple dolls with caption as the mayor of Parañaque City and his first lady. I smiled looking at them because even if I haven't seen the mayor in person, the doll does not look like him if I compare with his tarpaulins during the campaign period. I have no idea how the first lady looks like.
When I made the comment about the mayor to the attendant, she admitted that yes, many onlookers have the same comment. Just for clarification, they are not the ones on the next photo.
At the far back of the exhibit were manequins with dazzlingly elegant costumes. I was having a real hard time taking shots of them because every time I click, people would be beside the manequin taking their selfies. When the attendant noticed my struggle, she approached those who were beside the manequin and asked them to step aside so I can take photos.
"Oh, my God! You don't do that!" I exclaimed at the attendant.
"It's okay ma'am," she said. I wonder what's okay with that when those people she asked to step aside are onlookers just like me. The only difference was, they wanted their faces beside the manequins while I wanted the manequins to be on their own on my photos.
I just laughed out what the attendant did and went on with my photoshoot. The next photo is the "best" I had for all the manequins without going back up to the second floor.
I can't take my eyes of the costumes and kept wondering from which part of the country were they specific of. I was also trying to figure out if I have seen them somewhere because a few seem to ring a bell.
Then the attendant spoke again beside me. It looks like she's been observing me all along. She pointed to the right of where I was standing and said, "she wore that costume."
"Who she?" I wondered and turned to what she was pointing at. There was this stand about a couple of feet away from us and in front of a row of artificial bamboos. Oh, why I haven't notice it! I looked around and there was another one on the other end of the stage where the manequins were.
That time I realized that the pieces of arts in front of me are masterpieces worn by our nation's pride in prestigious beauty pageants. I felt prouder, much more than before I noticed the stands.
I shifted my eyes from the stand to the manequin and tried to figure who wore which costume and for what occassion. Then the attendant said, "there are more at the back of the stand."
"Oh, really?" I asked and without waiting for an answer, I squeezed myself under the artificial bamboo leaves and in between the stems so I can have a good look at the back of the stand. The attendant even helped me out by moving the stand a little to give way. Yes, there were more at the back of the stand.
The costume with the wings looked so beautiful and mysterious. I asked the attendant if that one is on display and she said yes. Why, I haven't noticed it.
"It is here,ma'am," she said while pointing to her left, my right. I can see her arm extended at the side of the stand as she was in front and I was at the back under the bamboo trees.
I found my way back to the front of the stand and followed what that attendant was pointing to. I can't figure from those manequins on the left so I asked, "which one?" I was facing the same direction as she does now.
She moved to our left and pointed to a manequin at the back. That very goldish one in the middle at the back on this next photo. Oh yes, there are the wings!
I wanted so bad to have a good shot of the manequin with the whole wings captured but it was impossible because of the very limited space there was between my target and the manequin in front of it. This is the best shot I got.
After estimating that I had enough if that manequin, the attendant pointed again to the stand on the left. Like the first one, she said there are more at the back of it.
I again shifted my eyes from the stand to the manequins and tried to match who wore which costume. Go figure for yourself.
All of those on display in the exhibit area have no price tags so I asked the attendant if these costumes are for sale. She said "no, those are just for exhibit."
Then she added, "but I think it is worth ten thousand pesos to rent them". Ten thousand pesos just to rent one of them! I did not bother to ask how long will the rental be allowed. I thought I could already guess.
I expressed my amazement and admiration for all the costumes and mentioned that the creator much be very resourceful and creative. The attendant said,"Search for Edwin Uy on the internet."
"Edwin who? That one?" I pointed to the name at the back of the stage and continued asking. "Is he the one who conceptualized and made all these?" The attendant said yes. Wow, Pinoy!
Of course, I again found my way to the back of the stand to take a shot.
After taking all my time with the beautiful costumes, I moved on to the curve on the left side. The stall has these lamp shades which are made of capiz shells. I pointed my camera while one of the attendants specific to that store was in view. He suddenly hid. Ah, camera shy!
I made a concluding round the exhibit area and found on the sides these stars which are also made of capiz shell. It is too early for Christmas but never so early to prepare.
And the artisan vs. artist? Here is the synstudy (synonym study) care of dictionary.com app.
