UPOU Helps Conserve Culture Through Wood Carving

Ongoing at the new UPOU Community Hub Bldg. (8-15 July 2015) is a Wood-Carving Workshop, Wood Carving Competition and Artists’ Forum where 15 wood carvers (7 from Ifugao, 5 from Besi in Guagua, Pampanga, and 3 from Paete in Laguna) are actively participating. This is part of the series of activities in celebration of the 20^th Anniversary of UPOU and UPOU’s celebration of World Wood Day. 

Theme of this workshop is “Wood and Humanity” and it highlights the crucial role of wood in ensuring a sustainable future. 

The most important aspect of this Project is the Wood Carving Competition, which shall be held on July 15^th at the CCDL (Centennial Center for Distance Learning) at the UPOU Campus in Los Baños.

The Project, aptly titled Artists’ Workshop and Forum, has brought together the dwindling number of Filipino Wood Carvers to work with a couple of Chinese Master Wood Carvers from the IWCS.  According to Prof. Habito, Project Leader, the winner for this year’s competition shall be sponsored by the IWCS for a European tour to observe and study woodcarving techniques in other countries in Europe.

The Exhibit of the products or outputs of the workshop shall be at the Centennial Center for Distance Learning (CCDL), UPOU Campus in Los Baños.   It should be pointed out as well that the wood used by the wood carvers come from the huge trunks and branches of acacia trees uprooted by Typhoon Glenda on the campus of UPLB.

Incidentally, UPOU’s 19^th Graduation Ceremonies shall be held on 25 July 2015, 5:00 pm, at the UPOU Grounds.  UPOU shall officially announce the graduation of 378 individuals who have completed all the requirements for graduation from 24 degree programs (FMDS, 10; FEd, 9; FICS, 5).