IN 1965, National Artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco discovered petroglyphs in a cave in Angono, Rizal. Now a national treasure, the petroglyphs in the Angono Cave date back from the Late Neolithic Period.
Petroglyphs are images created on rocks using stone tools as a form of rock art, usually made during the stone period. Today, some artists still use rock as a canvass for art.
One of them is Janddie Castillo, who uses stones as his canvass. However, unlike the cave men who carve or pick the rocks, he paints on them. He started painting on miniature rocks in 2011.
First, he finds flat stones on which he could paint using acrylic paint. Once the acrylic paint dries, he starts sketching and then subsequently paints his masterpiece.
Castillo told “Matanglawin” TV that portraits are more difficult to make on the small stones. He has to be precise in every detail so that the painting will look exactly like its model.
* * *
TRIVIA PA MORE (Various Sources): Magapit Suspension Bridge is the first of its kind in Asia. It spans the Cagayan River at Lallo and is 0.76 kilometers long. The hanging bridge links the first and second districts of Cagayan going towards the Ilocos Region via the scenic Patapat Road on the Ilocos Norte-Cagayan Inter-Provincial national highway.
* * *
Angono Petroglyphs – This cultural heritage site dates back to circa 3000 B.C. and is the most ancient Filipino, or more aptly, prehistoric Filipino work of art. Besides being the country’s oldest “work of art” it also offers us an evocative glimpse into the life of our ancestors. The site has been included in the World Inventory of Rock Art under the auspices of UNESCO, ICCROM and ICOMOS and nominated as one of the “100 Most Endangered Sites of the World.”
* * *
Send your questions on anything and everything to Kuya Kim through my Twitter account @kuyakim_atienza using #AlaminKayKuyaKim.
Ating tuklasin ang mga bagay-bagay na di n’yo pa alam. Walang ’di susuungin, lahat aalamin. Ito po si Kuya Kim, Matanglawin, only here in Tempo. (KIM ATIENZA)