Theologian fr. Edgardo D. Alaurin, O.P., SThD, Regent of College of Fine Arts and Design and alumnus of the Faculty of Sacred Theology, launched his book entitled “Nuestra Señora de Salvacion: History, Theology, Piety”, and also mounted his pipe sculpture exhibit entitled “Lumen Tenebras Vincit!” (Light conquers darkness) on October 15, 2019 at the UST Museum – Main Gallery.
“Nuestra Señora de Salvacion: History, Theology, Piety,” published by the UST Publishing House, was a product of fr. Alaurin’s research of a relatively unknown Marian image venerated in a village in Albay, Bicol, and was later on dubbed as the Patroness of Albay.
In his speech, fr. Alaurin underscored that Mary had different images with different names, but “she is all our mother and we pray the rosary, we pray the Angelus to her just like the Lord, as they always say, the light of salvation,” fr. Alaurin said. “Mary shares her integrity, the light and salvation. Mary, just like her son…is our light and salvation,” he added.
Meanwhile, his artwork entitled “Lumen Tenebras Vincit” (“Light conquers darkness”) was a homage of the Dominicans’ devotion to the power of the light, and Mary’s significant role as Stella Maris and Stella Matutina. It is an execution of devotion, an assemblage of art works which unfolds supernatural, spiritual, humane, and animative collective interpretation. The pieces were made of steel, to foreground the settled and subdued devotion of the Dominicans toward the image. The use of the steel was softened by the “gentle entrance of light [for] each sculpture is an embodiment of the luminary life of Nuestra Señora de Salvacion in the eyes of the children of Mary in general–the Pueblo Amante de Maria.”
Talking about the artworks, fr. Alaurin said, “I enjoyed doing it because in a way, I felt like a creator in a relative sense. I fashioned my own creatures according to my own creative imagination and liking, and afterwards, I saw something good in them.”
The twin events were attended by artists, both alumni and faculty, of the University, as well as officials of the Dominican Province of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas. Interior Design faculty member and Culture, Arts, and Humanities researcher Mary Ann Venturina-Bulanadi curated the exhibit.
Photos by Hans Lawrence V. Malgapu
