Message of Senator Loren Legarda: Finissage of the Philippine Pavilion

Message of Senator Loren Legarda*
Finissage of the Philippine Pavilion
15th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
27 November 2016 | Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy
(*Read by a representative)

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

First, let me say that I regret missing the finissage today.

As we close this milestone in our country’s history of Philippine contemporary architecture, I wish to express my gratitude to everyone who made this possible.

Thank you to the Department of Foreign Affairs for the untiring support. To Ambassador Domingo Nolasco and to Consul General Marichu Mauro, maraming salamat. This exhibit, I hope, has given our countrymen pride and glory in our identity as Filipinos. I hope it has nurtured, among our people, greater consciousness and appreciation of our heritage.

I would also like to thank Chairman Felipe de Leon, Jr. of the NCCA and our Commissioner for the Pavilion. His passion and his continued leadership have continued to ignite the spark to develop and promote the richness of our arts and culture.

To the curatorial team, Leandro Locsin, Jr., Sudarshan Khadka, Jr. and JP Dela Cruz, and to all the artists and architects, your vision, through Muhon, has started a dialogue that allows us to ponder on the realities that surround us, particularly on our built heritage, and to shape our own personal narrative as a community.

To everyone, this is not a goodbye. The Philippines is here to stay as we have a lot to offer, as a nation that is innately dynamic, talented and artistic.

Thank you and see you all next year at the Philippine Pavilion in Arsenale. Mabuhay!