On October 18, Saturday, from 3-5pm, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Philippines Trustee and Vice-Chairman Lory Tan will give a talk on Mindanao, its intricacies and controversies, through its culinary arts.

In the late nineties, the Tan family-owned Bookmark published a book on Mindanao. To obtain the visuals and stories that eventually filled that book, the development team travelled the length and breadth of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. At the time, Lory Tan was writing occasional food pieces for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He capitalized on the opportunity and maintained a diary of the meals they enjoyed along the way. This talk is culled from those field notes, and constitutes a faithful re-living of that experience.

Jose Ma. Lorenzo "Lory" Tan is the Vice-Chairman of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Philippines and the President of the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation, Inc. A staunch environmentalist, publisher, writer and photographer, Tan has won numerous publishing awards.

His book, "The Last Great Forest: Luzon's Northern Sierra Madre Nature Park", won the National Book Award for Environment in 2001. Another one of his books, "A Field Guide to Whales and Dolphins in the Philippines," won the Gintong Aklat for Science in 1998. He was named Travel Writer of the Year in 1995 for his article "A Season of Whales," published in Mabuhay Magazine.

The talk is a part of the current Silverlens Gallery show, Isa Lorenzo, 003: The Moro Negatives.

Silverlens Gallery is at 2/F YMC Bldg. 2, 2320 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City, 816-0044, 0905-2650873, manage@silverlensphoto.com. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday 10am–7 pm, Saturday 1–6pm. www.silverlensphoto.com.