‘Bayani’ Mural Exhibit of Igorot Painter Opens In DepEd

Angelo Aurelio’s “Bayani Matrix Project” gets a follow-up exhibit, this time, a tribute to this city, where he was born.

The “Bayani: Sa Lupain ng Ginto at Bulaklak, A Bayani Matrix Project,” will be a 13-day show starting June 24 until July 7 at the lobby of Rizal Building in the Department of Education (DepEd) central office in Pasig City.

In coordination with the DepEd’s Office of the Undersecretary for Administration and the Youth Formation Division, the exhibit will be a tribute to the mural’s birthplace, Baguio City. Aurelio said DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones will join the opening ceremony.

“We’ve come up with a title to pay tribute to the painting’s birthplace, Baguio City: Land of Gold and Flowers, and of Shining Cultural Heritage and Blossoming Creativity,” Aurelio said in an interview over Facebook.

He said the exhibit showcases portraits and biosketches of Filipino heroes and a mural with the theme “Bayani, sa Lupain ng Ginto’t Bulaklak”.

During the Independence Day celebration last June 12, Aurelio unveiled the Bayani Matrix Project in an exhibit at the Baguio Museum.

The mural shows the faces of Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat, Juan Luna, Melchora Aquino, and Gabriela Silang, all recognized as National Heroes in President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s memorandum circular number 25 signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.

The circular, signed on September 15, 2017, directed all government offices to display or exhibit photographs, paintings, or other forms of representations of Philippine heroes. It also states that “This material has expanded the list to 21 to enable public offices and our public schools to present these National Heroes in public so they may serve as role models of the Filipino Youth and Students.”

It took Aurelio 46 days of painstaking work as he tried to find the right stroke and color for the mural.

“I want to bring out each of their characters in my own means and impression on canvas,” Aurelio said in an earlier interview prior to the June 12 exhibit opening at the Baguio museum.

Aurelio is not just a painter. He is also a winner of two major Aliw Awards for his play “Anatomy of an Octopus Woman” during the 30th Aliw Awards on Dec. 19, 2017.

Set inside the Baguio City Jail, the play that starred females deprived of liberty, won the Best New Concept Production and director’s plum for him.

Aurelio said he is going back to theater after the Pasig exhibit. (PNA)