Art and culture should never lose its place in today’s modern world.
That was the message of Senator Loren Legarda as she recently led the launching of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Sculpture Garden, conceptualized and designed by Luis “Junyee” Yee, Jr., the country’s foremost installation artist.
The UPLB Sculpture Garden, a first of its kind in the country, is a project initiated by Legarda’s office and the UPLB administration.
Inside the Sculpture Garden is the Pavilion designed by Architect Bimbo Baltre, with the hall serving as an events place to help generate funding for the maintenance of the garden.
Junyee's award-winning works will be put on permanent exhibition including the first indoor installation exhibition in the history of art, "Wood Things," made in 1980.
Also in the sculpture garden is the monument supported by Legarda, "Bantayog Wika," which is a structure that aims to monumentalize the country’s indigenous languages by constructing physical structures to symbolize the significance of Philippine languages as repository of Filipino cultures’ wealth of indigenous knowledge, social values, life practices and traditions, and history.
In her message, Legarda, a staunch supporter of culture and the arts in the Philippines, underscored the vital role of the arts in helping Filipinos create their unique identity as a nation.
"Isinasalarawan ng sining ang mga isyu at suliranin ng lipunan na minsan ay ating nakakaligtaan o hindi makuhang banggitin at mapag-usapan," she said.
"Kung kaya, sa isang magaling na alagad ng sining, ang aking kaibigan, Junyee, lubos ang aking pasasalamat sa pagbabahagi mo ng iyong galing at talento. Salamat sa iyong malikhaing pagbibigay boses at kahulugan sa mga talakayin sa lipunan at sa ating kapaligiran,” the senator added.
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