Designer Bea Valdes with beaded woman’s top. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
NEW YORK CITY–Gold continues to shine at Asia Society on Park Avenue in this city as artists lend their talents to the ongoing Philippine Gold Exhibition.
Designer Bea Valdes presented her tradition-based designs and Sheria Irving and Mariko Nakasone Parker led the ensemble of Ma-Yi Theatre Company in “Alamat,” stories of Philippine Gold last October 26.
Meanwhile, Grace Nono will bring traditional music forms to Asia Society on October 30. (For more info and tickets, visit www.asiasociety.org.)
Bea Valdes narrated her journey from a young girl fascinated by her Grandmother Fe’s hand-embroidered mantels and table cloths to her mission to “bring Philippine embroidery and beadwork to a global audience.”
As an artist and writer, Valdes wove stories into her collections. Her pieces are not just accessories, but “symbols of a heroic feminine narrative.” Taking inspiration from various cultures, she has received global recognition as a creative architect of distinctive luxury goods.
Valdes designs and produces her pieces in her Manila studio, working with modern Filipino artisans. She maintains a focus on traditional embroidery, supporting local artisans and their craftsmanship, while shining a light on the Philippines as a design hub.
Bea Valdes (fifth from left) flanked by parents Pamela and Gabby Valdes along with sisters and cousins and Tita Maritess and Tito Gabby Panlilio (far right).
Her hand-made designs are available at Asia Society. Valdes invites visitors to “explore and experience the pieces displayed – run your fingers of the work and read our stories, written in invisible knots. In the end, it is all bound by needle and thread, but it is about binding and connecting,” she said. “And nothing connects us with our shared humanity quite as gently as working with our hands.”
Ma-Yi presented “Alamat,” golden tales from Philippine folklore, with Sheria Irving and Mariko Nakasone Parker. Written by Ralph Pena, “Alamat: Stories of Philippine Gold” retraced the evolution of “Philippine Gold” as uniquely Filipino. Chris Bannow, Alexis Camins and Ron Domingo joined Irving and Nakasone, with Jack Tamburri directing.
“Alamat” brought to life wildly different characters from all over the Philippine islands– for example, a husband and wife whose life is transformed by a miracle baby hatched from a watermelon; two strangers from different worlds bound together by inexplicable desire- to explore the ways that gold has been valued.
Coming to Asia Society on Friday, October 30, at 8 p.m. are renowned vocalist Grace Nono and Ensemble to perform traditional Philippine music forms. Nono hails from the Butuan kingdom area in Southern Philippines where “Philippine Gold” now on exhibit was found. Nono champions traditional Filipino music while simultaneously striving to make these traditions accessible to a new generation.
“Voicing the Ancestral Sacred” will present ancestral sounds from selected areas in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao (the Philippines’ three island clusters); indigenous Muslim, and Christian populations; and hinterland, rural and urban communities. Fragments of these sonic landscapes will be re-contextualized within a new urban landscape.
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