DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

P R E S S R E L E A S E

www.dfa.gov.ph 2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines

Tel. No. 834-4000

SFA-AGR-674-05 23 September 2005

FILIPINO ARTIST PORTRAYS CULTURAL SUBSTANCE IN AN

EXHIBIT IN THE PHILIPPINE EMBASSY IN BERLIN

http://www.dfa.gov.ph/news/pr/pr2005/sep/pr674.htm

23 September 2005 – The Philippine Embassy in Berlin reported to the

Department of Foreign Affairs that as part of the Asia-Pacific Week 2005, an
exhibit by Filipino visual artist Noel Gene B. Lungay, which portrays emotional
content and Filipino cultural substance, was opened on 19 September 2005 at
the Philippine Embassy in Berlin Chancery.

Ambassador to Germany Minerva Jean A. Falcon, who officially opened the

exhibit entitled “Kapaw…Echoes of the Sea Children,” said that “Mr. Lungay is
one of the few Asian artists who, despite interactions with the European art
community, has retained the Asian touch and emphasizes adherence to root
culture and its art.”

The artworks, oil on canvas and terracotta figures, about sea nomads in the
Asia-Pacific region are visual interpretations of the artist's experiences with
Badjaos or Philippine sea nomads, where he tries to show certain parallelisms
between their interactions with their natural environment and the urbanized
societies. These artworks show certain conflicting aspects of primitive cultures,
which are stiff clinging to their preserved traditions, despite living and mingling in
the modernized global society. They also show the skill and style of the artist, as
well as the emotional content and cultural substance that the artist feels toward
his subjects.

Lungay's recent artworks portray the artist's sensitive ability to derail light and
color on a specific scheme, and the heightened visual perception that allow him
to freely move through art on experimental levels in modern realism. Such levels
include eagle perspectives and underwater scenes with subjects purely retained
from memory.
Mr. Lungay has been residing in the State of Hesse since 2004, and has had
four exhibitions in Germany since 2004. In a recent art competition, he won the
first prize "Kunstwege II" from the city of Eschwege.

The culmination of the Asia-Pacific Weeks is the closing concert of Philippine

performing artist Grace Nono and her ensemble. END