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Pinoy Joe Datuin Gets Gold in Olympics Art Contest

A stainless-steel work by Filipino sculptor Joe Datuin won the prestigious international Sport and Art Contest in connection with the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Datuin’s “Dancing Rings” reinterprets the traditional Olympic logo into a flight of the athletic spirit. The art piece recasts the conventionally horizontal Olympic logo into a vertical leap of faith, much like a gymnast or a classical dancer in action, to signify both human grace and human solidarity.

For his winning feat, Datuin will receive US$30,000 and a diploma.

“We’ve struck gold even before the Beijing games have opened,” said top sculptor Ramon Orlina. Orlina is the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) art coordinator who led the screening of the Philippine entries to be sent to the contest. He had also won the grand prize in the II International Biennale of Basketball in the Fine Arts in Madrid in 2000.

Meanwhile, “Dreams for Goals,” an oil-on-canvas work by Edmar Colmo, won a Highly Recommended award In the Graphic Arts category of the contest. The young Iloilo-based artist will get a diploma.

Orlina said 61 entries from 36 countries were screened by an international jury composed of representatives from the International Olympic Committee’s Commission for Culture and Education and art experts from the different continents.

Datuin said that he derived his winning design from the logo of the 2008 Olympics, the “Dancing Beijing.” According to host China, the logo represents Beijing’s effort to reach out to embrace all humanity. It is an invitation for “the world to join their dance, experience their culture, and share their joy,” according to the Beijing Olympics website.

Datuin, 52, is known for his modernist idiom which he had acquired as a Fine Arts student at the University of Santo Tomas where his mentors included National Artist J. Elizalde Navarro, Cenon Rivera, Angelito Antonio, Leon Pacunayen and Mario Parial. He had also apprenticed under National Artist Arturo Luz at the Design Center of the Philippines (1977-1981).

“Dancing Rings” and “Dreams for Goals” will be on exhibit in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne and later, at Olympic Expo in Beijing. The winners will receive their prizes in Busan, Korea, during the VI World Forum on Sport, Education and Culture on Sept. 25-27.

Source: Good News Pilipinas

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