KAWIT, Cavite – Art enthusiasts in Cavite and nearby provinces may still view the ongoing nutart exhibit of visualizer and freelance children’s book illustrator Bernadette Solina-Wolf, which runs at this historic town’s Museo ni Emilio Aguinaldo gallery until Oct 31.
The Cavite leg, entitled “She Drew It in a Nutshell: The Art of Bernadette Solina-Wolf” is part of the ongoing outreach exhibit project, running for three years now, in various museums and National Historical Shrines of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).
MEA curator Haidee Paulette M. Bedruz said Thursday that the exhibit, MEA’s offering for the Museums and Galleries month, will put on display Wolf’s artworks depicting fragments of Filipino life in an unconventional canvas, empty coconut shells.
“The exhibit deals with two opposite ends of our cultural milieu—the indigenous, and that which became the Filipino life as a colony,” Bedruz said.
A resident of Puerto Galera in Mindoro, Wolf initially painted sea life as subject for her works as she started painting on coconut shells back in 2006.
“Nutart is an on-going personal artistic endeavor with Philippine indigenous peoples and Filipiniana as my favorite theme using coconut shell as my canvas medium,” shared Wolf.
Inspired by the rich biodiversity the country has to offer, she also painted the monkey-eating eagle and owls endemic to the country into the ‘baos’ (coconut shells).
Collaborating with her husband, a German engineer, she has, to this date, created 1,200 paintings.
The exhibit features 21 of her acrylic works, six of which are categorized into ‘worn culture’ featuring traditional attires, wardrobe, reflecting the self and society the individual belongs to and a visual identification of a person or a group, as evident in their everyday life and in their cultural, social, and spiritual beliefs. Traditional attires also mirror one’s environment, social status, or gender. It is the tangible manifestation of what is practical, beautiful, and significant to people.
The other three is under ‘Venerated Images,’ which speaks of the commitment of the people to the Catholic faith that is nurtured by experience.
Others include five works under ‘Nurtured Child,’ (various mother and child artwork) and another six depicting ‘Everyday Realities’ which features old childhood games like ‘tumbang preso,’ ‘luksong tinik,’ and ‘sipa’ plus the backdrop ‘Grass Owl.’
MEA is one of the three NHCP museums in Cavite, with Museo ni Baldomero ni Aguinaldo (MBA), located also in Kawit and the Museo ng Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio (Bonifacio Trial House) in Maragondon town.
It is located at the ground floor of the iconic Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine, in Kaingen village here and open Tue to Sun, from 8am to 4pm.
For inquiries you may reach MEA at +6346.484.7643 (/PNA)
