Backpacking Philippines: Angono, Rizal: Art Capital of the Philippines

Angono, Rizal: Art Capital of the Philippines

Much like Tutubi's hometown Paete in Laguna province, Angono is sandwiched between the rugged slopes of Sierra Madre mountain range and Laguna de Bay. The two town's people also share the same gift of transforming ordinary items into extra-ordinary works of art; Paete is touted as the Carving Capital of the Philippines; Angono as the art capital of the country.

Some time ago, Tutubi, along with R and O, decided to take a daytrip commuting to Angono to see for themselves the fabled artists of the small Rizal town noted for its artists including two National Artists: Carlos "Botong" Francisco and Lucio San Pedro.

Meeting up at EDSA Central terminal, Tutubi and the gang of intrepid explorers available at a moments notice for unplanned trips, boarded a van (FX) bound for Angono. The trip was pleasant one, passed by the fork on the road where "Ang Nuno" greets all passers-by, and alighted at Angono public market; the gang transferred to a waiting tricycle that took them to Balaw-Balaw Restaurant, once (in)famous for serving "exotic" fare that includes usa (dear), sawa (python), baboy damo (wild boar) and bayawak (an endemic and endangered lizard), but now serves highly palatable Filipino dishes with a serving of the signature balaw-balaw appetizer.

A hearty lunch of adobo, tahong (mussels), crabs, kangkong, and itlog na maalat (salted egg)

Balaw-balaw is actually an Angono native sauce made from fermented shrimps, red rice and a porridgy base.

Balaw-Balaw restaurant doubles as an art museum, with its intricate architectural design, large wooden doors, colorful windows, a small pond, and adored with various artsy things on display using earth colors mostly dealing with mystical subjects testifying to the rich folklore of the town. (try also Exotic Restaurant in Laguna)

The gang visited Nemiranda Arthouse with its figurative realism artworks, had merienda of halo-halo and sinful pasta with aligue (crab fat) sauce at Nemiranda Art Cafe and Restaurant before boarding another tricycle to the street lined with re-interpretations of Carlos "Botong" Francisco's works.

Some of Angono's prehistoric inhabitants, however, left the town a great legacy in the form of 127 drawings carved on volcanic tuff, The Angono Petrolyphs, of which the upcoming post will be about...

Note that Angono needs a second, third or more visits from the Tutubi :)

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Notes on Angono:

Balaw-Balaw Restaurant is at #16 Dona Justa Sudb., Angono, Rizal (Tel.: 651-0110 Telefax: 648-5779)

Higantes Festival, November 23, where higantes (giants) made of papier mache are paraded around town in honor of San Clemente (St. Clement), the town's patron saint.

Other Angono Tourist Attractions:

Nemiranda Arthouse and Atelier Gallerie

The Arthouse, like a labyrinth, environment-friendly architecture concept where a wide collection of the artist's paintings using figurative realism in the artworks portraying rural life and folkloric art. One of Nemiranda's most visible work are the murals inside the EDSA Shrine, EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue.

Location: No. 10 Doña Elena St., Doña Justa Village, Barangay San Roque, Angono
Tel No.: (632) 651-3867 (more info here

Tiamson Art Gallerie

A painter, a musician and transmedia artist Orville Tiamson depicted Philippine culture using modern cubist style.

Location: No. 203 Doña Nieves, St. Angono

Blanco Art Gallery

The museum displays the incredibly life-like paintings of the most famous family of painters in the country.

Location: 312 Ibañez St., Angono Rizal
Tel No.: (632) 651-0042

Village Artist Gallery

The gallery houses Pepito Villaluz’s unique graphic and much-detailed realistic style.

Location: 256 Carnation St., Nieves Hills Lakeview Subd., Brgy. San Isidro, Angono, Rizal Tel. No.: (+632) 451-0303

Vicente Reyes Art Studio

One of the most prolific and talented students of the late National Artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco.

Location: Doña Aurora St., Brgy. Poblacion Ibaba, Angono, Rizal

Juban Studio

The private studio displays the works Salvador Juban.

Location: Doña JustanVillage Phase 11, Brgy. San Roque, Angono Rizal

Hernandez Studio

style ranges from the early "realistic" to the more recent "conservative-imaginative realism in transparent cubism."

Location: Manila East Road, Brgy. San Roque, Angono, Rizal
Tel No.:(632) 295-3127 www.freewebs.com/obramaestra

Angono Artist Village

Ang Nuno Artists Foundation Gallery

A vast collection of paintings, sculptures and other art froms conceptualized and made by independent and budding artists from Angono, the gallery is located at Balaw-Balaw Specialty Restaurant, where customers, visitors and guests alike, oftentimes enjoy viewing the artworks on display.

Location: Doña Justa St., Doña Justa Village Phase 1, Brgy. San Roque, Angono, Rizal
Tel. No.: (+632) 651-0110

Angono Ateliers Gallery

Location: Villamayor Bldg., Manila East Road Highway, Corner Justa Street, Angono, Rizal Tel No.: (632) 295-4023

How to go to Angono:

Commute: At EDSA Central, there are vans/FX that'll take you direct to Angono. Travel time is about an hour. Alight at the town market and hire a tricycle to take you to your desired destination, if far. There are also jeepneys in Cubao plying the Angono route.

By Car:

Coming from Pasig, take the Manggahan Floodway along Pasig River; make a left turn at the end of the Floodway; right turn at the junction towards Provincial Road.
A left at the junction towards Manila East Road (where you see some Giant Sculptures) takes you to the Nemiranda arthouse. A right turn will take you to the town proper.

Labels: Art, Calabarzon, National Artists, Rizal Restaurants, Southern Tagalog

posted by GingGoy @ 8:08 PM,

15 Comments:

At Jul 28, 2007, 10:51:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I like the carvings on the turf. Really beautiful!

;)

By the way, how do I pronounce "Paete" (?)
At Jul 28, 2007, 2:15:00 PM, tin-tin said...: i know that restaurant. we used to eat halo-halo there when i was still really young. yup, just halo-halo. coz i don't think i can eat exotic food. hehehe

kyels: pa-e-te :)
At Jul 28, 2007, 2:48:00 PM, Anonymous said...: My aunts used to bring lots of these shapr curvings from Manila...I bet some of them were from Angono or Paete. Nowadays, I rarely see those wooden statues in houses---perhaps they've become too rpicey fro the common buyer as their quality increases.
At Jul 29, 2007, 10:22:00 PM, Anonymous said...: uy sarap naman ng mga pasyal mo ang dami mo nang na visit. heheheh salamt at lagi kami nakakasama pati sa kainan sa susunod ulit.
At Jul 29, 2007, 10:46:00 PM, Tinunuy said...: I've been always interested to the artworks of Angono. I have a friend who lives there and he really has a talent in arts. Angono is such a blessed city for having wonderful artists.
At Jul 30, 2007, 12:41:00 AM, -= dave =- said...: bayawak is monitor lizard. it's endangered? i thought there's still a lot of them here. we also have balaw in bicol, but i'm not sure if it originated there.

can't wait to read your post about the petroglyphs :)
At Jul 30, 2007, 5:35:00 AM, carlotta1924 said...: hmm parang ok mamasyal dun ah. huli akong nakapuntang angono mahigit na sampung taon nang nakalilipas sa isang birthday party pa yun hehehe. =)
At Jul 30, 2007, 4:18:00 PM, Anonymous said...: kyels, you pronounce Paete the way a Malaysian would and you're close. Filipino has the same roots as Bahasa.

tin-tin, wala na exotic dun :)

major tom, the carvings were mostly from Paete...of course I may be partial but that's always the case when i ask the owners :)

mousey, virtual pasyal muna ako these days. wala na ko pera :(

cm, do try to visit those places I mentioned. won't regret it

dave, bayawak is a protected species catching them is illegal

carlotta, pasyal ka na. mura lang pwede daytrip :)
At Aug 4, 2007, 12:16:00 AM, Ebb Tide said...: I am a friend of Mari and found your site at her blog. I agree Angono is a blessed city for having wonderful artist. When I was an art student at the U.P. "Botong" was one of my favorites Filipino artist. Thanks for the photos about him. Nice reading an update about his life.
At Aug 6, 2007, 5:13:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Very very interesting place. I've never been there either. But that place really shows how artistic we Filipinos are.
At Aug 12, 2007, 7:06:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hi!
Blanco Family Museum's tel. # is 651-0048 po. ;P
At Feb 4, 2009, 7:16:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Hi! =) ganda ng mga napupuntahan niyo sana makapag-post rin kayo ng rates para kapag may gustong pumunta alam na yung budget..hehehe ..
At Feb 6, 2009, 9:59:00 PM, GingGoy said...: anonymous, there used to be information like that but I deleted it to fact that fares are not stable and always fluctuating like the prices of gasoline
At Mar 13, 2009, 9:39:00 PM, Anonymous said...: by the way whats the name of the park in angono with cave???
At Mar 15, 2009, 7:30:00 PM, GingGoy said...: anonymous, you may be referring to angono petroglyphs. I have a post on that here

Angono, Rizal: Art Capital of the Philippines

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