b_gerhardf's photostream  

The vernacular renaissance in Philippine architecture reached unprecedented heights in the 1970s when President Ferdinand Marcos launched the New Society and pursued a singular “national architectural style” under the official maxim of Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa (One Nation, One Soul). The regime’s extravagant building program was legitimized by the search for a national identity which relied on the conscious use of familiar indigenous architectural icons. The colossal building projects of the regime, spearheaded by First Lady Imelda Marcos, projected an image of a progressive and modern nation-state. Ironically, it is in this repressive political climate that a golden age of Philippine architecture flourished, catalyzed by the iconic works of modernist maestro Leandro Locsin, Neovernacular pioneer Francisco Mañosa, and landscape architect Ildefonso Santos.
“Revisiting Modernity: Architecture and the New Society” is a double exhibition featuring the photographs of Lawrence Dizon Sumulong and the archival collection of the Sentro ng Arkitekturang Filipino that explores discursively the spaces and architectures created under regime which promised a national rebirth in the 1970s – the Bagong Lipunan. The exhibition will open at the Vargas Museum, University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City on February 23, 2012 at 6 p.m.

The archival photographic collection of the Sentro ng Arkitekturang Filipino will investigate the overwhelming architectural development of the 1970s to dispel the myth of Marcosian modernity. While, the dark inner sanctum of a film palace that stood majestically by the bay is probed and captured through the lens of Dizon Sumulong to reveal how spaces are reappropriated and charged with new meanings by the occupants who now inhabits structure. A sense of mysterious allure that entwines history and metropolitan narratives of place is unleashed in the noir photographs collectively titled “Urban Legend.”

The exhibition is part of the Philippine Arts Festival, a month-long festival of the arts spearheaded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in celebration of the National Arts Month. It aims to further Philippine art and the Filipino’s regard for local arts and culture. Workshops, exhibitions, forums, performances and many more, will take place in various parts of the country. The annual celebration of National Arts Month started with the signing of Presidential Proclamation 683, in 1991, declaring February as National Arts Month (NAM). Over the years, NCCA as well as private and government agencies organize events and activities to highlight the artistic brilliance of the Filipinos.