The masters of sacred art at SM City Pampanga
Top officials from Pampanga — including a former president — talking art and culture with some of the province’s world-class artists; a showcase of sacred art from masters and a new generation of artisans; and art imitating life in a critically acclaimed film about one of the featured artists. These were some of the exciting highlights of “My City, My SM, My Art”’s recent stop at SM City Pampanga.
The event celebrated Pampanga’s sacred arts tradition, and how contemporary artists are bringing this to the new century with their works. Most Kapampangans, after all, are devout Roman Catholics. Every town in the province has at least one church and several small chapels. The province also has some of the most beautiful samples of colonial church architecture in the Philippines especially in Betis, Apalit, Bacolor and Angeles.
With that, the faith remains strong to this day, and sacred art continues to flourish in Pampanga.
A joint project of SM, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Shell Philippines, the
Philippine STAR, with support from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Centerstage Productions, “My City, My SM, My Art” is a celebration of Philippine visual arts — painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography and filmmaking.
The campaign brings art and people together by showcasing the works of masters, modernists and millennials in a road show around the SM Supermalls. Advocating art for all, the team works with communities to mount exhibits, workshops and contests in key cities around the Philippines.
Former President and Deputy Speaker of the House Gloria Macapagal Arroyo attended the launch together with Pampanga Governor Lilia G. Pineda. Kapampangan local government officials Congressman Aurelio Gonzales, Board Member Tonton Torres, Guagua Mayor Dante Torres and San Fernando Vice Mayor Jimmy Lazatin, as well as Department of Tourism regional director Ronnie Tiotuico and provincial tourism officer Arwin Lingat joined them.
SM officials led by SM senior vice president for marketing Millie Dizon and SM Supermalls regional operations manager for North Luzon 4 Junias Eusebio welcomed them.
Guests enjoyed the program, which included an AVP presentation hosted by Astrud Aguinaldo featuring the master artists of Pampanga and their amazing works. These works were exhibited in and around the My Art Gallery, which was inspired by the bahay na bato in Luzon.
Some of the featured artists are considered “young masters” of the craft. Eduardo Mutuc Jr. has worked beside his father National Living Treasure Eduardo Mutuc on religious and secular works in plated silver; Edwin Layug is famous for his use of the traditional polychrome style mixed with Spanish influences in his altar works and
carrozas; and Dante Blanco, who is known both for his furniture and religious icons.
The works of the Mandukit Anluagi Sta. Ursula (MASU), an organization that aims to keep the Kapampangan religious art tradition alive, were also showcased, as well as those of photojournalists Bong Lacson, Peter Alagos and Deng Pangilinan. The latter included awe-inspiring photographs of 10 heritage churches and a chapel in Pampanga from their “Visita Iglesia: Edifices of the Kapampangan Faith Revisited” exhibit.
The event’s highlight was a tribute to three Kapampangan masters: National Living Treasure Eduardo Mutuc, Presidential Medal of Merit awardee on Ecclesiastical Art Willy Layug, and Cannes Film Festival Best Director Brillante Mendoza.
National Living Treasure Eduardo Mutuc is an artist who has dedicated his life to creating religious and secular art in silver, bronze and wood. His intricately detailed
retablos, mirrors, altars and carrozas are in churches and private collections.
Presidential Medal of Merit Awardee on Ecclesiastical Art Willy Layug comes from a family of sculptors and woodcarvers from Betis, Pampanga. A scholar of former Pampanga Gov. Estelito Mendoza, he finished his architecture and fine arts BS degree at the University of Santo Tomas.; and later improved his craft by reading books, frequenting exhibits, traveling and studying art techniques like estofado in Europe.
Layug has done several high-profile religious projects, including a seven-foot-tall wooden sculpture of Our Lady of Palo near the altar of the Tacloban airport for the open-air Mass celebrated by Pope Francis and the Crucified Christ, which was the centerpiece of the Papal Mass at the Quirino Grandstand. He was the first ecclesiastical artist to install a retablo dedicated to Saints Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod at the Pontificio Collegio Filipino in Rome.
Within his shop, Betis Galleria, Layug has paved the way for new trends and a dynamic style in religious icon- and retablo- making in his hometown.
Brillante Mendoza is the first Asian to win the Best Director Award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival for his film Kinatay in 2009, and is regarded by the world’s top film critics as an ultra-neorealist. More recently, his latest film Ma’
Rosa was in the Main Competition of the Cannes Film Festival, bringing us again much honor when Jaclyn Jose won the Best Actress Award.
While this Kapampangan filmmaker has received international acclaim for his groundbreaking films, he has not forgotten his roots and continues to tell stories about his hometown. Two award-winning films associated with him,
Kaleldo and Dukit, take place in Pampanga and have ecclesiastical themes. Shot entirely in Betis, Dukit, a film by Armando Lao is based on the life of Willy Layug and highlights the language and religious sensibilities of the Kapampangan.
With its aim of bringing art and people together, “My City, My SM, My Art” also conducted a pukpuk or silvercraft workshop. JR Capili won the top prize, for which he received P5,000 worth of SM Gift Certificates.
“My City, My SM, My Art” is a takeoff from the previous “My City, My SM” campaign which promotes tourism, “My City, My SM, My Cuisine,” which highlights regional culinary specialties, and “My City, My SM, My Crafts,” a celebration of traditional art and modern Philippine design in cities where SM has malls. “My City, My SM, My Art”’s next stop will be in SM City Iloilo.