Revisiting our past through Manansala and Manalad

TODAY’S GENERATION can revisit the country’s past through the framed illustrations of National Artist for Visual Arts Vicente Manansala and the less wellknown artist, Amadeo Manalad, in the exhibit called Manansala Manalad, Framing History.

“We celebrate the genius of Manansala, but also of Manalad, who is a lot less known, but deserves wider appreciation,” said one of the exhibit’s guest curators, Manuel Quezon III, during the show’s opening night on June 12, when the country celebrated its 119th Independence Day.

The exhibit — at the ground floor gallery of the Ayala Museum in Makati City — shows commissioned drawings by Manansala ( 1910-1981) and Manalad ( 1911-1984). It is known that the two artists were friends, contemporaries, and both did graphic design, murals, comics, and editorial illustrations.

Mr. Quezon said the exhibit calls the “young and old from whatever walks of life” to be silent and appreciate our history at a time when everyone is shouting at each other, online and offline. He said the exhibition “is a story of chapters composed, selected, and put forward by a generation” and not of the two artists alone.

Manansala and Manalad were commissioned to do 481 drawings, portraits, and maps for the book Philippine Saga: A Pictorial History of the Archipelago Since Time Began by University of the Philippines ( UP) professors Jaime C. de Veyra and Otley Beyer. Known for his Wave Migration theory on the origins of Filipino ancestors, Mr. Beyer, an American anthropologist, did fieldwork in the Philippines when he arrived in 1905. He lived in the country until his death in 1966. In 1914, when he joined UP, Mr. Beyer started the Anthropology department, making him the father of Philippine Anthropology.

The Philippine Saga book spanned Philippine history from the Pleistocene era until the Philippine-American war.

Of the 481 drawings found in the book, 263 of them appeared in The Evening News newspaper in 1947. Parts of the Philippine Saga book were introduced in the newspaper in 35 daily installments as an attempt at nation- building.

According to Ayala Museum senior director Elizabeth Gustilo, the Manansala and Manalad drawings were in the possession of a private collector until his death in 2012. It was the collector’s wish to share the drawings with the public so they were donated to the Assisi Development Foundation (ADF), which teamed up with the Ayala Museum for the exhibit.

This is the first time that the collection is on public display. The exhibit is on view at the Ayala Museum until Aug. 23.

“The timing is perfect. It is 2017 and the world around us is changing, locally and globally. The world order is in question and shaken to its core,” said Ms. Gustilo during the show’s opening night.

ADF founder and chair and former ambassador to the Vatican, Howard Dee, added that the exhibit is especially for the youth in order for them “to appreciate the struggles and hardships” of our ancestors toward nation- building.

The exhibit prohibits picture- taking, which allows an otherwise selfie and Instagram- obsessed generation to scrutinize and appreciate each drawing. —

THE Iron Age people learned the art of pottery making. The repeated spheres and contours, rendered with compelling depth of modeling, make this picture of Iron Age pottery-making a remarkable tribute to feminine fecundity, by Vicente Manansala

LUNA was assassinated to forestall a coup d’etat. He opposed the change of policy, and when the new Cabinet sent another commission to Manila, he intercepted it and sent his men to confer with Otis. Luna had shown his hand, by Amadeo Manalad

BURGOS, Gomez and Zamora were condemned to die. On Feb. 17, 1872 the three Filipino priests were strangled with the garrote for a crime they had never committed, by Amadeo Manalad

DEFEATED but never daunted, Soliman rebuilds his kingdom by Vicente Manansala