TRIVIA: My fascination with papercut art started when I chanced upon an old Chinese lady in Beijing who did my papercut portrait during my visit in 798 Art District.
Papercutting in the Philippines started centuries ago. We've seen it in Christmas lanterns but most prominently in the pastillas pabalat of San Miguel, Bulacan.The intricately cut pastillas wrapper elevated the stature of simple candy into edible, decorative treasures reminiscent of rustic way of life. I guess this inspired Ms. Gold Tantoco, owner of Prism Gallery to put together the papercut exhibition which was officially opened to the public last Saturday, August 1, 2015.
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THE INSPIRATION BEHIND CUT & PASTE
The 81 year old Dolores "Lita" Ramos-Libunao is one of the few remaining pastillas papercutters of Bulacan.
Armed with scissor or cutter, imagine how Nanay Lita was able to tame and transform an ordinary Papel de Japon, a very soft and highly prone to tearing paper into something like this --- a masterpiece! |
doing their demonstrations which really captured
the interest of the guests!

As one of the featured artists, I asked Sir Badz about his inspiration for his artworks. He shared that he aims to continue this kind of art form alive and vibrant. "I don't believe that Papercut is a dying artform." he reiterated. He said that there are many practitioners out there who just needs proper venue to showcase their work in order to be discovered. Part of his advocacy is conducting demonstrations and workshops in different parts of the Philippines to promote this Filipino culture and tradition.
Meet Pergy Acuna, an illustrator and craft artist from Antipolo City who creates two of three dimensional pieces with whimsical design. I first saw her artwork when I went to the opening of InK on Paper Exhibition last June 2015.
Fan mode! The kid in me was instantly attracted to her work which uses pastel colors and characters which any children and those young at heart will definitely appreciate! |
I highly recommend you bring your siblings and other kids in the family to this exhibit. If I'm not mistaken, Prism Gallery will also have a papercut workshop so it will be a great learning event for them too.
Just call (02) 886 3947 for more information. Start them young! Let them play and learn papercut. |
If you want to be wowed and take home a piece of art from these Filipino artists, I highly recommend you visit PRISM GALLERY at the G/F Island Tower Condominium, Salcedo corner Benavidez Streets in Makati City. It just very near Greenbelt so make sure to shop for some work of art too!
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CUT & PASTE: A Papercut Art Exhibition featured artists: Liza Flores, Mansy Abesamis, Lala Gallardo, Badz Magsumbol and Pergy Acuña, Show runs till August 30 - see you at the gallery!
Posted by Prism Gallery on Saturday, August 1, 2015
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Maraming Salamat!