National Artist Rio Alma (Virgilio Almario) viewing the wooden rice god collection on display at National Artist BenCab’s (Benedicto Cabrera) eponymous museum in Baguio.
It’s a few weeks before the 52nd University of the Philippines National Writers Workshop, and we have entered the homestretch of preparations. I’ve been organizing the annual workshop for Likhaan: University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing for several years now, and each year brings with it many interesting stories, new friends, and lots and lots of photo ops.
And every year, at around this time, I start getting nostalgic for past workshops, so I’ve decided to look at my archives and post some of my favorite photos through the years.
I took the photo in this post at BenCab Museum. National Artist for the Visual Arts Benedicto Cabrera is a long-time friend of the workshop, and a visit to his museum for afternoon merienda has become a standard side activity for our teaching and writing panels. This photo was taken in 2010, the same year the renowned poet and National Artist for Literature Rio Alma started wearing fedoras. I followed him as he wandered around the display of wooden rice gods and snapped this picture as he paused to study one statue. I like the idea of two gods standing face to face, one literary and one agricultural. And the way the rice god seems to be sprouting from his head is practically, well, poetic.
Rio Alma is a fellow emeritus of the Likhaan and a regular member of the workshop’s teaching panel.
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