He?s all fired up about learning, connecting with Filipinos abroad and loving the land and heritage he calls home
I?M NOT ASHAMED TO SHUSH people every time they become too noisy during a performance. But I also love the idea of artists having direct exchanges with people. I want them to mingle with the crowd.?

That?s Jaime Zobel de Ayala speaking, and you know he?s put his money where his heart is. Long before other companies started investing in private museums, the company he headed already had the Ayala Museum. And the Ayala group of malls, then known as Makati Commercial Center, was the first of its kind to display art pieces in public areas.

For someone who hates being interrupted as he savors a live performance, be it a concert or play, it seems quite ironic that Zobel and his collaborators chose the family-owned Ayala malls as venues for the upcoming ?Bravo! Filipino? events, a four-month-long series of activities at the Ayala malls highlighting Filipino excellence in various art forms, including a series of star-studded concerts dubbed as ?Songs for Every Filipino.?

But it?s this attempt to make art more accessible to everybody that has made the mall, the country?s 21st-century equivalent of the town plaza, the best place to stage shows and exhibits to reach out to more people, he believes.

?Bravo! Filipino,? which debuted in 2008, is Zobel?s brainchild?a way to ?bring arts and culture to the masses,? he explained.

?Cultural awareness is quite strong among other Southeast Asian countries,? he added. ?While we Filipinos are so carefree. After spending too many years imitating others, we hardly know how much wealth we got.?

Passionate

Zobel sat down for a recent exclusive interview with Inquirer Lifestyle over lunch at the Filipinas Heritage Library.

He?s as passionate and excited about taking part in the series of events as the next artist.

An avid photographer, he will be joining a group of amateur photographers, including actor Piolo Pascual, architect Manny Illana, dentist Erwin Lim, priest Leonida Dolor and pastry chef Martha Ebro, as they present images of Filipinos engaged in traditional arts and crafts captured through their respective lenses.

The moveable photo exhibit also doubles as a tribute to Filipino artisans such as embroiders, wood carvers, pop-art painters, pottery makers, weavers and even lambanog and bukayo makers.

Zobel, who went as far as Mindoro in the south and Pampanga in the north, tackles such subjects as parol making, pastillas wrapper making, basketry and fishing.

?This time, I?m just one of the guests. I?d be damned if I don?t participate,? he said good-naturedly.

(Apart from Greenbelt 5 and Glorietta, ?Bravo! Filipino?s? other venues are Market! Market!, Marquee, TriNoma, Alabang Town Center, Bonifacio High Street and Alabang Center Cebu. See related story.)

Improve education

When asked what the country?s leaders, including himself, should do to boost the low cultural awareness among Filipinos, Zobel, chair emeritus of the Ayala Group of Companies, came up with a short but emphatic answer: improve education.

He?s doing his part by addressing a special group of graduates next week. The occasion is also special for Zobel, who last accepted the honor of being commencement speaker 25 years ago.

Zobel requested us not to divulge what he will say since he considers it personal, to be done without fanfare or media coverage.

Quoting from any of today?s pop and cultural icons is farthest from his mind. He has so many things to say and so little time to do it that he might as well speak from the heart.

Indonesian trip

Zobel also regaled us with stories of his recent trip to Indonesia with wife Bea. It seems no matter where he goes, he can?t keep his eye from wandering and seeing for himself the extent of a country?s cultural awareness as well as its Filipino inhabitants.

Through pure and simple deduction, Zobel managed to spot and exchange pleasantries with a number of fellow Filipinos.

?It was quite difficult to tell Indonesians and Filipinos apart,? he said. But while walking through a textile market full of exquisite batik, he spotted a young man wearing a knitted polo shirt embroidered with the Philippine map.

Zobel called his attention and declared, ?Uy, Filipino ka? (?Hey, you?re Filipino?), before giving the man high-five. Imagine an ordinary Pinoy, in a foreign country, exchanging high-fives with Don Jaime Zobel de Ayala.

Memorable mass

Another time, rather than go to Jakarta?s main Catholic cathedral one Sunday morning, he and Bea decided to go to the smaller St. Therese?s Church. The place was so packed that they had to stand outside the courtyard.

Again, Zobel wondered whether there were other Filipinos hearing mass. It was almost near the end of the service when he found out.

?I could suddenly tell who the Filipinos were from the rest when we started praying ?Ama Namin? (?The Lord?s Prayer?),? he said.

While most churchgoers either bowed their heads or clasped their hands in prayer above their foreheads, the few Filipinos in the crowd stood out praying with their arms outstretched just like the way they do it at home. It was another one of those eureka moments for the ever-inquisitive Zobel.

The occasion also proved to be a memorable one?for a totally different reason. Earlier in the mass, he and several parishioners heard a loud crack from above. Before he could look up, a dry, massive branch fell with a thud and landed less than a feet away from him.

?What if that thing had hit me,? he said, laughing. ?What would they say in the papers? Mr. Zobel got pierced by a tree trunk in Indonesia!?