PAMANA AT SINING:

VALUING THE ARTS, REDISCOVERING HERITAGE AND

REAFFIRMING IDENTITIES

Pamana at Sining is an exhibit presented for the 13 th DLSU Arts

Congress. It features a collection of images that defines the national and
local identities of peoples. The medium used for the visual art is
photography, capturing the moments that show the way of life and
practices of the Filipinos in the past, that may have been forgotten in this
generation. The photos feature the province of Cavite and its history.

In the exhibit, I saw different photographs showing the people and

their daily life back in the day. There were photos of fishermen, priests, and
families. Other photos featured the historical sites, such as the churches, in
the province in different periods which includes the Philippine Revolution. It
also showed the old maps, travel-routes, and other related materials on the
province, that contained geographical and the demographic features.
These photos are accompanied by descriptions of the photographers on
their works of art. There were also old letters shown.

This exhibit allowed me to learn more about the arts and heritage in
the past of the Cavite Province. The photos really captured the way of life
and practices in the past, while creating a story out of it. With this exhibit, I
became more aware of our identity as Filipinos. But what is the importance
of knowing our national identity? National identity is a person’s identity or
sense of belonging to one state or nation. It is important because humans
are social beings, and along with our national identity is cultural identity.
Cultural identity is our sense of belonging to one’s culture which includes
the customs, practices, languages, values and world views that define the
social group that we belong in. It is important as it relates to our sense of
self and how we relate to others, and it also contributes to our overall
wellbeing.

The art in this exhibit captures things that are difficult to grasp and
gives us a shared experience of those things. As I have mentioned, the
different photographs showed the people back in the day and how their
daily lives were, as well as the historical sites that are now no longer
present. The photographs are significant records of the Filipino society in
the past. From this, we learn not only of the past, but also the past of other
cultures.
 DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY
HISTORY & THE LASALLIAN BROTHERS

The Lasallian brothers established a small school in Paco, Manila in

1911, as a response to the call for Lasallian education in the Philippines.
As more and more students come into the school, a new campus was
constructed in Taft Avenue, Manila. After three decades have passed, it
became one of the best schools in the country. The exhibit presented
features a collection of images showing De La Salle during the period
before and after the Japanese occupation in the 1940s. It highlights the
history of the De La Salle College and the brothers who founded it, during a
time of war and chaos.

In the exhibit, I saw different photographs showing the different parts

of the school grounds, such as the basketball and tennis courts back in
1936. Other photographs captured the times when the Japanese occupied
the school, such as photos of the cellar where Brothers and civilians took
shelter during bombing raids. Other photos include the view of the school
with many parts of it destroyed due to the bombing raids. These photos are
accompanied by description ns and there were also old letters written by
the brothers.

During the time of the occupation, many people sought refuge at the
campus of what was then known as the De La Salle College. Throughout
the war, the school was allowed to continue its operations, due to some of
the Christian brothers being German, which gave the school a safe pass
since they were allies of the Japanese. The Christian brothers took in
families who were hoping to be protected from the chaos going on outside.
Unfortunately, on February 12 of 1945, Japanese soldiers forcibly entered
the campus wherein the massacre occurred. The photographs in the exhibit
also shows the rebirth of De La Salle after the war.

The exhibit allowed me to learn more about the history of De Salle

University and how it transformed from a small school to one of the bests in
the country. The photos really captured how the college began, how it was
destroyed, and how it came back from the chaos of the World War II.
These photographs are significant records of the school’s beginnings, the
war, and post-war. From this, we learn not only of the past, but also the
past of the people who founded the school that we are currently studying
in. As students of La Salle, it is important that we learn about the history of
the school, as a way of understanding its vision and mission.