How to heart art

Art’s always been about heart. Even if it’s the duplicated Marilyns of Warhol or the calculated shark tanks of Damien Hirst, art comes from inside.

One local cause that has been working to help kids on the inside is Alay Sining, an annual art event sponsored by the Rotary Club of Makati West. The organization helps kids with congenital heart conditions to receive life-saving surgery and treatment.

Featuring a group of local sculptors, Alay Sining 6 will be launched at Mandarin Hotel’s Main Ballroom on Tuesday, Nov. 19 and carry on at the Clipper Lounge from Nov. 20-21. Some 200 artists’ works will be featured, and 50 percent of the sales will go to pay for surgery operations for children of indigent families.

The Philippines has over 1,000 children with such medical conditions. Only four hospitals treat them, and the waiting list can be long. Alay Sining — true to its motto “Art with a heart” — helps raise funds to pay for indigent kids who need treatment. So far, since the charity event began five years ago, they’ve helped close to 300 children receive surgery. Last year alone, they helped 32 kids receive surgery; next year, they aim to pay for 35 to 40 operations.

One of the founders is National Artist I.P. Santos, and he continues to guide the spirit of Alay Sining, along with current president Antonio A.L. Lopez. Along with National Artists Napoleon Abueva, Virgilio Almario, Arturo Luz and designer Ivy Almario, the event features many up-and-coming sculptors such as Jinggoy Buensuceso, who will be curating and organizing the sixth Alay Sining.

This is Buensuceso’s third year working with the event. “I got very emotional at the presscon,” he says, when they showed videos of kids who have been helped by this charity. “I get sad seeing the kids who are helpless. And I’m happy that we can help with an event like this, we can give life. I hope we can do this three times a year!” A father of two, Buensuceso works in a large Cavite studio he calls The Block. He also helps organize Manila FAME, the biggest furniture and accessories exhibition in the Philippines.

For Alay Sining 6, expect something a little different from your typical art sale. “Normally we would have a ribbon cutting,” Buensuceso says. “But this year we’ll have an art installation and performance.” The benefactors, artists and audiences will participate. Buensuceso came up with the theme, which is “Kanlungan,” which means refuge, cradle or sanctuary. Visitors to Alay Sining 6 will be engulfed in a large, red-orange space meant to suggest both a mother’s womb, and the promise of a new sunrise. “It’s going to have an industrial look, with a reddish-orange color, a depiction of sunrise and sunset.”

Some 200-plus pieces from different artists, using different materials, will be on sale for the three-day sale. “I want to create a cohesive space, and I want to tell a story: different pieces talking to each other.” A main sculpture by Buensuceso will be 2.5 x 2.5 meters. This time, there will also be music — drums, strings and gongs played by Agnes Arellano and Billy Bonnevie to mimic a heartbeat, a performance that will also involve participating artists.

Jun Alvendia, co-chairman of Alay Sining, talks about the roots of Alay Sining: “The first artist we invited was I.P. Santos. It was his idea to focus on sculpture. He’s always said sculptors need to be better promoted and appreciated in the Philippines. His goal is, ‘Every house a sculpture.’” 

Another helping hand comes from New York-based Gift of Life International, which Alvendia calls “our major fundraiser.” They provide matching funds for the money raised by Alay Sining, and work with doctors and partner hospitals such as St. Luke’s Global City. Surgery can cost P800,000 to P1.5 million, but through agreements with partner hospitals, that cost is reduced to P100,000-P250,000.

How does the charity decide who will receive treatment first? With the screening help of Dr. Carl Reyes, pediatric cardiologist and head of the Cardiovascular wing of St. Luke’s Global, who is also a Rotary Club of Makati West member. “His heart is really for the kids,” says Alvendia.

Also attending the event will be Sen. Cynthia Villar, Rotary district governor Robert Kuan and Mandarin Oriental Hotel manager Oliver Kreuzer — all people with big hearts, and an eye for art.

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Alay Sining 6, an art auction to benefit kids with congenital heart defects through the Gift of Life Program, opens at Mandarin Oriental Main Ballroom on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and moves to the Clipper Lounge on Wednesday and Thursday (Nov. 20-21). Buy a sculpture and save a life!