By Thea Alberto-Masakayan | Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom

Renowned sculptor Napoleon Abueva is in dire need of blood donations after suffering from bladder rupture, his daughter said Tuesday.

Abueva is the man behind the iconic Oblation replicas in UP Los Banos, Baguio, Tacloban, Miag-Ao and Mindanao. He was also the youngest National Artist awardee and considered the father of modern Philippine Sculpture, according to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

He underwent a gallbladder operation at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) earlier this month where he needed blood transfusions due to his heart condition, his daughter Amihan Abueva said.

“He would have bled to death. During the operation, which was very long, he lost a lot of blood,” she said.

Abueva, who turns 82 this month, is “conscious” but still needs blood Type A donations for his recovery, she added.

Other blood types are also welcome to help increase deposits in the blood bank. Donors may go directly to NKTI.

Amihan expressed gratitude for all the help they are getting. She noted that Abueva is also excited to return to the UP College of Fine Arts once he recovers.

By Alex V. Pal
Inquirer Visayas 8:34 pm | Sunday, August 21st, 2011 

LITERARY GREAT. National Artist for Literature Edith L. Tiempo, renowned founder of the Silliman Writers Workshop, died Sunday of myocardial infarction. Photo from Facebook

DUMAGUETE City, Philippines—National Artist for Literature Dr. Edith L. Tiempo died on Sunday in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.

She was 92.

Doctors at the Silliman Medical Center, where Tiempo was rushed Sunday afternoon for myocardial infarction, pronounced her dead at 5:35 p.m. after trying to resuscitate her.

Dr. Tiempo died at a time when Silliman University was starting its 110th Founder’s Day celebration.

“We have lost one of our pillars,” Silliman University President Dr. Ben Malayang III announced at the end of the 95th anniversary vesper worship service of the Silliman University Church.

“But Dr. Tiempo will be part of our Founder’s Day celebration,” he added.

The National Commission on Culture and the Arts, in its website, says Tiempo, a poet, fictionist, teacher and literary critic, is regarded as one of the finest Filipino writers in English whose works are characterized by a remarkable fusion of style and substance, of craftsmanship and insight.

Together with her late husband, Edilberto K. Tiempo, she founded and directed the Silliman National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City.

In the last 50 years, the Workshop has produced some of the country’s best writers, who have come to fondly call her “Mommy Edith.”

Tiempo’s published works include the novel A Blade of Fern (1978), His Native Coast (1979), The Alien Corn (1992), One, Tilting Leaves (1995) and The Builder (2003); the poetry collections, The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems (1966), and The Charmer’s Box and Other Poems (1993); and the short story collection Abide, Joshua, and Other Stories (1964).

Her works have won numerous prizes from the Don Carlos Palanca Awards in Literature, the CCP literary contest, and the Philippine Free Press literary contest.

She was conferred National Artist for Literature in 1999.

Tiempo is survived by son Maldon, daughter Rowena T. Torrevillas, son-in-law Lemuel and grandchildren.

by Karen Flores, abs-cbnNEWS.com Posted at 08/15/2011 5:56 PM | Updated as of 08/16/2011 2:40 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Responding to public sentiment, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) closed down last week its controversial “Kulo” exhibit, which showed defaced religious images.

Not surprisingly, some artists were not pleased.

National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera, leader of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, said the closure of the exhibit was “an unfortunate move on the part of CCP,” adding that such only makes the center “open to every little whim by a certain sector in Philippine society.”

“That leaves CCP open to pressure anytime something, an art object being displayed, raises the ire of certain sectors,” Lumbera said in an interview on ANC last week.

The works fanning controversy are Mideo Cruz’s images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary which were adorned with objects not related to Christianity — from a crucifix with a wooden penis to a Christ the King figurine with rabbit ears.

Lumbera said he understands that “there is very little ground on which the CCP and the Church can agree on,” but stressed that an artist “should be allowed the freedom to create what he thinks is art.”

“I just regret that the CCP did not put up an argument that would protect the artist and his creation,” he said.

‘Not art’

Another National Artist for Literature, however, believes that there is no art to speak of as far as the “Kulo” exhibit is concerned.

F. Sionil Jose reiterated that unlike the controversial exhibit, art involves the use of imagination, craftsmanship and originality.

“The exhibit should not have been shown at the CCP. If submitted to my old gallery, I would have rejected it. It is not — I repeat — it is not art! It is an immature and juvenile attempt at caricature,” he wrote in his column in The Philippine Star on Monday.

“If I were to criticize religious faith visually, I would do it much better, more creatively than what this artist has done. The cross alone — I can do so much with it with allegory and symbolism. And this is what is precisely wrong with so many of our visual artists: for all their superb craftsmanship, they lack imagination and they don’t think hard enough.”

Jose said he has not seen the exhibit itself, but stressed that pictures were “enough to convince me of the validity of my conclusion.”

He then wished that Filipino artists “would stop claiming freedom of expression all the time when they are criticized.”

“There is so much anarchy in the world of art today and much of it is due to this dictum that there is ‘a new way of seeing things.’ If I covered the Batasan building — all of it with black cloth — that is not only searing commentary, an achievement — it is also something new. But is it art?” he said.

“To me freedom of expression is not involved with the CCP exhibit. Artistic sensibility and rigid critical values are the norm and they should prevail if our culture is to develop.”

The head of the CCP visual arts department resigned following the closure of the “Kulo” exhibit. A number of senators as well as several groups asked other officials, including CCP president Raul Sunico, to follow suit.

Sunico, however, maintained that “it is not up to me to resign.”

The CCP is under the Office of the President.