I am Kapampangan and I am proud of my heritage. Most of the time, many Filipinos associate Kapampangan heritage with food. One of the most articulated cultural stereotype (in a positive sense) of a Kapampangan is her skills in cooking (hmmmm, Atching Lilian embodied!). This is also the reason why Pampanga is commonly associated as…
Tag: Heritage
Manila, Entangled!
This post is an excerpt from my book Buhol-Buhol/Entanglement: Contemporary Theatre in Metropolitan Manila (Bern et al: Peter Lang, 2017). ENTANGLEMENT is persistent in Manila’s historical narrative. Travel writer Pico Iyer has observed many contradictions in the city of Manila. For instance, he describes the gallery going to his hotel room as an extraordinary space since: “on…
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, an Indian Architectural Wonder
Early July 2017, a colleague from the University of the Philippines Diliman passed on a daunting task of delivering a lecture on digital humanities in Mumbai, India. The task was terrifying but the thought of Mumbai was seductive. Mumbai is one of five Indian cities in my bucket list (the other cities: Delhi, Agra, Goa,…
Stasis & Mobility: Launch Speech
Last night (19 October 2018), Stasis & Mobility: Nasa Dugo Natin Yan?! (An Exhibit on Philippine Genetics and Culture) was launched. The exhibit poses a general question: what is the role of culture and the environment in genetics? As I indicated in the program notes/exhibit catalog, this is not the first time the relationship between genetics and…
The Gutenberg Experience at the Plantin-Moretus House–Workshops–Museum Complex
The movable-type press is a system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce a document usually on a paper. The figure behind this technology is Johannes Gutenberg, who in mid-15th century Europe, introduced the metal movable-type. Gutenberg created his type pieces (the metallic alphabets, numbers, and punctuation) from lead, tin, and antimony, which…
Rio and its Playful Landscape (Part 2 of 2)
I am really glad, I was not interpellated by popular biases against Rio. Otherwise, I would not have experienced the carioca landscapes between the mountains and the seas. A panoramic view of the city from the Marro do Urca (Photo: SAP Tiatco) My visit to Rio de Janeiro was spent for a few hours only. Given…
Rio and its Playful Landscape (Part 1 of 2)
In the Philippines, when one thinks of Brazil, she thinks of the Amazon jungle, the carnival, beauty pageants, and Rio! Rio’s popularity has been on the rise since the 1960’s. The Bossanova song “A Girl from Ipanema” invaded the world radio, even winning Record of the Year in the 1965 Grammy Awards, beating American and English…
Skogskyrkogården: an Architectural Wonder where the Beauty of Life and Death Meet
On my way to Stockholm in 2016, a friend asked me via Messenger to pass by Skogskyrkogården, especially since he knew my sort of interest with UNESCO World Heritage Sites. “Skogsky what?” I asked. “Thought you were a WHS fanatic? Really, you know nothing about Skogskykogården?” he quipped. I googled (thanks to an easy access…
Gaspar, Baltasar and Melchor or the Three Kings in Kölner Dom/Cologne Cathedral (Part 2 of 2)
It was raining when I arrived in Köln. I was afraid that the bad weather would spoil my first opportunity to pay tribute to the three kings. Rain and cold weather – not a good idea for travel, I know. However, the bad wheater did not spoil my visit. The magnificent giant that is the…
Gaspar, Baltasar and Melchor or the Three Kings in Kölner Dom/Cologne Cathedral (Part 1 of 2)
For a long time, four things come across my mind each time I hear “The Three Kings” or “The Three Wise Men” or in biblical terms “The Three Magi.” First, I think of them as Gaspar, Baltasar, and Melchor because this is how they are called in the Philippines. In relation, I also think of…
Tanghal Kultura 