The late National Artist for Architecture Ildefonso Santos said that every home in the Philippines must have a sculpture. He believed in the talent of Filipino sculptors.

This is why he founded Alay Sining, a fundraising project of the Rotary Club of Makati West (RCMW) that showcases and sells works of Filipino sculptors.

On its seventh year, Alay Sining will feature works over 100 sculptors at The Gallery in Greenbelt 5, Nov. 27-30.

Beneficiaries are children with congenital heart disease.

“This Alay Sining is being launched as a tribute to I.P. Santos,” RCMW officer Jun Alvendia said. “We will also be selling his coffee-table book, which is fast becoming a rare item. It is his last major publication.”

As a landscape architect, Santos was very supportive of Filipino sculptors. His works that use sculptures as accents are Loyola Memorial Park, Eternal Gardens Memorial Park and Cultural Center of the Philippines.

He also collaborated with great Filipino sculptors such as National Artist Napoleon Abueva and Eduardo Castrillo.

This year’s Alay Sining will feature works of prominent sculptors such as Ramon Orlina and Joe Datuin. Other artists: Jaime Nepomuceno, Tata Raul, Richard Tuason and Kish Javier.

More accessible

Alay Sining had been exhibiting at Manila Mandarin Hotel. This year it seeks to make the show more accessible to the public by holding it in a shopping mall.

“For the first time, we are holding it in a commercial center (and it will be) a three-day affair,” Alvendia said. “We decided (to put it) on a more public venue so our sculptors will have better exposure to the general public.”

A.P. Bartolome, president of RCMW, said Alay Sining aimed to help Philippine sculpture be more known to Filipinos, in line with the vision of Santos, who was also a president of RCMW.

“We would like to bring awareness and at the same time be an incubator for up-and-coming Filipino sculptors so that we can give them exposure,” Bartolome said.

Theme of this year’s Alay Sining is “Art with a heart.” The proceeds of the event will be given to Gift of Life International (Goli) Foundation.

Goli is a Rotary-based organization that gives financial assistance for surgery and treatment to kids with congenital heart diseases.

According to RCMW, the Philippine arm of Goli “has been raising funds to help defray the cost of surgeries in conjunction with RCMW through various charitable events.”

Bartolome said Alay Sining was not just a venue for sculptors but also an event to help poor children with heart problems.

“We have funded 318 operations already. And this is something we really like to do,” he said. “Through this Alay Sining, we raise money to be able to fund (the surgery) and to help.”

He said an open-heart surgery itself would costs around 150,000 exclusive of the doctor’s fee and other expenses.

Bartolome added that in the past two months, Goli had been doing noninvasive surgery called catheterization, which is more expensive but is less-traumatizing for children.

“We have an arrangement with the Philippine Children Medical Center wherein we really negotiate the price and then our very own doctor is doing the operation,” Bartolome said.

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