Sto. Niño: A Homage set to open in SM Art Center

Every third week of January, countless of devotees will converge in Cebu City not only to pay homage to the miraculous image of Sr. Sto. Niño, but also to participate in the weeklong Sinulog celebrations.

The festival was organized by the City of Cebu in 1980 as a great homage to the Child Jesus and to drum up the bandwagon of Cebu as the premiere tourist destination in the country. Today, this festival attracts not only local or national visitors but also entices one to two million tourists around the globe to join the festivities.

A variety of activities, such as sports, music and visual arts, are organized by different companies to sustain and enliven the Sinulog activities. The Art Center located at the second level of SM City Cebu, for its part, has continually partnered with local and national painters to come up with an exhibit that promotes the deep devotion of the Cebuano people toward Sto. Niño.

This year, 23 creative minds representing Cebu, Manila and Mindanao have group together to come up with an exhibit, Sto. Niño: A Homage.

The exhibit aims to provide the public the opportunity to understand the root of their faith through the visual imagery as interpretations from the viewpoint of the painters and sculptors. It also aims to entice the public to nurture the importance of prayer, and to illicit public support on creating art that reflects the Catholic faithfuls’ deep religiosity.

Participating artists from Cebu are Cesar Castillo, Rhodesa Cruzet, Jess Dinglasa, John Dinglasa, Efren Enolva, Bong Francisco, Jun Impas, Guido Lubanga, Mean Mustard, Clint Normandia, Joseph Ong, Celso Pepito, Fe Pepito, Jojo Sagayno, Antonio Vidal, and Mar Vidal. Noel Bueza, Joel Cristobal, Jun Tiongco and Jik Villanueva are representing the Manila base artists.

Minadanao, on the other hand, are represented by Lito Pepito and Ronnie Rudinas.

As art is a reflection of one’s creative mind, Sto. Nino: A Homage is an exhibit that embraces the individuality of each painter and sculptor. The public can expect a variety of styles, and interpretations-composed and created in medium like oil, acrylic, watercolor, pen and ink , sculptures.

Invited to grace as guests of honor for the exhibit opening are Raul Arambulo, Atty. Anastacio Muntuero Jr., Bernard Restificar, Marita Arambulo, Jenny Go, and Atty. Erlinda Ramos.

The exhibit will open in Art Center of SM City Cebu on Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. The show will run until Jan. 28, 2018.