College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines, Diliman

Il Restauro is an art restoration exhibition and workshop aimed at increasing awareness and knowledge of art restoration to better appreciate, conserve and protect one’s own cultural and artistic heritage. Italian restoration expert, Dr. Maria Castellano is the curator of the exhibition, as well as the lecturer and facilitator of the workshop on restoration .

This project is made possible in cooperation with the Italian Embassy and the Office of Initiatives for Culture and the Arts (OICA).

The workshop will be attended by UP faculty, students ( different colleges) and conservators from various museums in MetroManila.

Exhibition . 18 July – 5 August, 2011
Venue : The Lobby, University Theater
Curator: Dr. Maria Teresa Castellano

The UP College of Fine Arts will present an exhibition entitled “Saper Fare, ilRestauro,” a collection of thirty panels showing the restoration of significant Italian paintings and structures.

This traveling exhibition which has just come from Vietnam, pays particular attention to examples of excellent restoration, including Leonardo da Vinci’s Cenacolo, Raphael’s Madonna del Cadellino and St. Francis’ Basilica in Assisi. The significant restoration projects shown in this exhibition span the range of Italian paintings, sculpture and architecture. They provide the historical, legislative, theoretical and technical contexts in the field of restoration and conservation. It also underscores the unique expertise that Italy has cultivated in restoring and preserving countless masterpieces to keep their cultural history and heritage for future generations.

At the opening ceremony of this exhibition in UP to be held on Monday, 18 July 2011 at the UP Theater Lobby, Dr. Maria Teresa Castellano, an Italian restoration expert, and the curator of the exhibition will speak about the exhibition and her own experience restoring the works of Federico Barocci (1535-1612).

Art Restoration Workshop. 18 July – 20 July 2011
Venue : Bulwagan ng Dangal, Main Library
Lecturer & Facilitator: Dr. Maria Teresa Castellano

The exhibition will complemented by an Art Restoration Workshop that will be facilitated by Italian restorer Dr. Maria Teresa Castellano, to be held from July 18-20,2011 at the BulwaganngDangal, Main Library.

She will be speaking about the different concepts, theories, processes and intervention techniques of restoration. For the workshop, she will be interacting with the faculty of the UP College of Fine Arts, UP College of Arts & Letters, UP College of Architecture, and UP College of Science on the restoration which interfaces so many disciplines of study.

She will lead discussions and demonstrate how to conduct artistic diagnosis and intervention techniques on a badly damaged portrait done by Fernando Amorsolo of Sen Manuel Roxas, from the art collection of UP. She will also view the Jose Rizal mural at the College of Fine Arts to initiate discussions/ terms of reference for a forthcoming restoration conference focusing on said 1903 painting of Jose Rizal signed by Gomez.

As the schoolyear opens we welcome our Freshmen , and returning students back to the UP College of Fine Arts for the academic year 2011-12.

We open our new schoolyear with very high hopes for our students and so much enthusiasm for everyone to interact in the different learning environments where art and design can be fully expressed and experienced.  We have a number of student scholarships available for those with outstanding academic credentials including the CFA/ENSBA scholarship which provides for an academic experience from September 2011-January 2012 at the EcoleNationaleSuperieure des Beaux Artes( ENSBA) in Paris.

We are proud to inform parents and students that we have a new multimedia classroom to further stregnthen courses in digital and computer art and design.

The Corredor Gallery, our academic exhibition space has also been renovated with new walls and lighting system.  The flooring of the foyer has been upgraded, and this area be further improved as an  extended exhibition space of the Corredor Gallery.

I take pleasure in introducing to all students and faculty this year’s incoming members of the CFA College Executive Board:

• College Secretary : Rey Concepcion
• MFA Graduate Coordinator :  Leo Abaya
• Studio Arts Department Chair : JamelObnamia
• Theory Department Chair : Armando Burgos
• Visual Communications Dept Chair : Leonardo Rosete

I take this opportunity as well to announce the awardees of the CFA Professorial Chairs for 2010-2011. We congratulate these members of our faculty who have distinguished themselves with solo exhibitions and creative works last year.

• Tito de Santos Chair :  Ruben de Jesus
• Alcuaz Chairs : Benjamin Cabangis
• AmorsoloChair :  Neil Doloricon
• Diamond Chair :  Leonardo Rosete

We can all look forward to a very exciting year ahead with a program of lectures from industry leaders,  interaction with Visiting Professors and significant art exhibitions at the Corredor Gallery.  On July 2,  we will have as guest lecturer, Mr. Alan Whittaker who is a ceramic artist and the head of the Department of the Fine and Applied Arts  of the Liverpool Hope University in the UK.He will be giving a lecture and workshop at the Ceramic Studio, where he will interact with CFA faculty and students from CFA and Ateneo.  This will be a joint activity of Ateneo Art Gallery, the UP College of Fine Arts and the British Council.

On July 6^th, an exhibition by Roberto Chabet entitled “Sitting Standing Lying Walking” will open at the Corredor Gallery. This show is the sixth in a series of exhibitions to open in and around Manila and Southeast Asia throughout the year. Chabet is know for his experimental works, ranging from paintings, drawings, collages, sculptures, and installations made out of mostly ordinary and found material formalisms. Chabet taught at the UP College of Fine Arts for over thirty years. The exhibition will run until August 5, 2011.

A Conservation workshop to be conducted by Dr. Teresa Castellano from Italy will be conducted on July 18-22,2011 at the Bulwaganng Dangal at the Main Library. The activity is a joint collaboration by OICA (Office for Initiatives for Culture and the Arts,  the Italian Embassy, and the UP College of Fine Arts.

We wish everyone a good and productive academic year.