‘Social Realism’ on Aug. 17The ‘70s to the ‘80s was a whirlwind of oppression under the iron fist of the dictatorship. What did the Philippines have to do with anything beautiful? Landscapes were made of wooden school chairs piled high by student protesters, picket signs painted the horizon, voices of the people stained the night sky.

Social realism became the booming resistance of art at a time when freedom of expression was gunned down. Here are the stooping bodies of the Filipinos, the distorted limbs, guns and knives, barbed wire wrapped around a mouth, perspectives that force the viewer to look. Look! This is the Philippines under the dictatorship. The sick man of Asia captured on canvas.

Rage comes in different forms, and so does resistance. There are times when art is deliberate in its response to a political climate, and one of those times is during the Marcos regime—the martial law period of the Philippines. In a time of censorship, how do voices find their way out of the hand muffling them?

Join the Lopez Museum and the Ateneo Art Gallery for “Social Realism,” a lecture with Lisa Ito-Tapang on August 17, 2019 (Saturday), 2 p.m.-4 p.m. at the Ateneo Law School.

This lecture is part of “HIGHLIGHTS: Understanding Philippine Art Forms” presented in partnership with the Ateneo Art Gallery.

Where: Basement Auditorium, Ateneo Law School, 20 Rockwell Drive, Rockwell Center

When: Aug. 17, 2019 (Saturday), 2 p.m.-4 p.m.

Registration fees: P150 for students, teachers and senior citizens; P200 for adults

More ‘HIGHLIGHTS’

Do you know our art? Prepare to rediscover Philippine art forms as the Lopez Museum and Library teams up with the Ateneo Art Gallery for “HIGHLIGHTS,” a lecture series designed to bridge the narratives of traditional and contemporary art forms in the Philippine context. Utilizing the collections of the two institutions, this lecture series aims to revisit various genres of Philippine art.

For inquiries and to register, email programs@lopezmuseum. org.ph or call Yna at 631-2417. (Story/Photos by: Yna Musico)