Young Pinoy Artists Festival 2016

When Pinoy Stop launched an art exhibit featuring works of Pinoy kids, I wondered if my son Jo-Lo would be interested in participating.  He is actually good at arts and crafts, but he's been spending more time on Minecraft lately so I was not particularly sure.  I floated the idea to him, but it wasn't until a couple of weeks before the deadline that he said he wanted to join.  I made a couple of visits to the art store for acrylic paint, various bits of paper and we were off!

Jo-Lo made a total of 5 artworks.  3 are paper weaving types which is reminiscent of the banig, the woven mats used for sleeping in the rural areas.  Two were of a simple pattern, with a third giving him more challenge as it was more intricate and and had a bigger base. His other artwork was a Christmas lantern where he used eggshells and acrylic.  And lastly, he painted a pop art of his favourite fast food chain Jollibee.

His younger sister also got into the act - I hope there will also be an opportunity for her to create and display her artwork in the future!

The exhibit took place last Saturday, 24th June at the Thistle Hall in Wellington.  This actvity was aligned with a number of important events:
- 118 years of the declaration of Philippine independence;
- 50th year of New Zealand and Philippines’ Diplomatic Relations; and
- Pinoy Stop’s 4th year anniversary,

It was so cool to see so many artworks on display.  The 10 and under kids were given the category "Bahay Kubo" (nipa hut) which is the basic housing structure in the Philippines.  However, the humble bahay kubo is no longer a common sight in the country so I'm sure this was the perfect opportunity for parents to teach their kids about this part of our heritage.  The older kids (11-16 year olds) were tasked to depict the Philippine culture in their artwork.  The theme of the exhibit was "Our Generation Z's take on Filipiniana."



Here's Jo-Lo's artworks:

Amazing (1), Paper Weaving, Art and Watercolour Paper


Amazing (2), Paper weaving, Art and Watercolour paper


Amazing (3), Paper weaving, Art and Watercolour paper


Pasko. Eggshells, Acrylic on Watercolour Paper


Chicken Joy. Acrylic on Watercolour Paper

Christine enjoyed the colouring in activities.

The artworks were also for sale via silent auction, with the money going to the artist and part also goes to charity.  We're so happy that all his artworks were sold!  Well, actually we bidded for one of the paper weavings (it did not have a bid), and I loved his Pasko artwork so much that we outbidded the others for it!

Thank you, Pinoy Stop, for this wonderful activity.  It became a bonding moment with my son, and he was also able to appreciate the compliments received for his hard work.