What better way to open the JJ Atencio Lighthouse for New Learning than by hosting a symposium on “Learning New”?
Last October 10, the Ateneo SALT Institute launched the JJ Atencio Lighthouse for New Learning at the Loft of the fourth floor of the Areté with an inaugural symposium that offered talks and panel discussions with art historians, teachers, entrepreneurs, and journalists.
The symposium culminated in a performance art, the blessing of the Lighthouse and the marker for a scholarship fund, and a program to celebrate the life of Dr. Rosario Bustos-Atencio.
The afternoon panel and talks formed part of this year’s TALAB or Talakayang Alay sa Bayan, the alternative class program of the Ateneo de Manila’s Loyola Schools. They were also particularly significant because of the attendance of students, Ateneo faculty, and the Lighthouse’s benefactor himself, JJ Atencio.
The first panel featured a discussion on how art and culture can promote nationalism and help in nation-building. It featured sought-after curator and scholar Marian Pastor-Roces, Leon Gallery owner Jaime Ponce de Leon, and Ateneo historian and professor Isabel Consuelo Nazareno. This was moderated by curator Lisa Guerrero Nakpil.
The panel brought up important ideas about the art scene in the Philippines, cultural treasures and their meanings, the education necessary to help Filipinos, and art as a system of artists, curators, collectors, and scholars. The panel also engaged the audience’s numerous questions and comments.
After this exciting panel, there was a back-to-back talk by technology entrepreneur Gregor Arn and renowned journalist Tina Arceo Dumlao. Arn talked about the importance and consequences of technology, while Dumlao engaged students on how to be more critical in assessing online truth claims and the need to resist fake news.
“Why call it fake news? Just call it lies!” quips Tina Arceo-Dumlao in her talk on Teaching Truth, recommending a default skeptical stance towards online news.
After the two talks, guests and students went to the Union Bank Plaza of the Areté and were treated to a unique performance art by French artist Henri Lamy, who painted on a black canvas on the floor while performing capoeira–a martial arts dance from Brazil.
A group of capoeira enthusiasts who came over to enjoy the performance ended up in an impromptu “play” with Lamy, who also stunned the audience with his fluent Tagalog.
For the evening reception, guests were invited to the fourth floor of the Learning Innovation Wing for the blessing of the JJ Atencio Lighthouse for New Learning.
The Lighthouse was blessed by Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin SJ, the President of the Ateneo de Manila University.
The Lighthouse will become the Ateneo SALT Institute’s space for training of teaching and for innovative teaching and collaborative learning.
The blessing of the space was followed by the unveiling of the marker for the Dr. Rosario Bustos Atencio Scholarship Fund for the Education of Public School Teachers.
To cap this special day, the Ateneo de Manila University hosted a dinner program in celebration of the benefaction from the Atencio family.
Benefactor JJ Atencio, who was also a college classmate and good friend of Ateneo SALT Director, Fr Johnny Go, dedicated the evening to his mother, Dra. Chitong Atencio. Her example of generosity and devotion has affected and inspired the lives of many, and it was only fitting that the dinner celebrated her life and legacy.
Moved by their love for the late Dr Chitong and inspired by her son’s generosity, the dinner guests reached into their pockets and added a total of P350,000 to the scholarship fund
Thanks to this endowment fund, the Ateneo SALT Institute will be able to grant scholarships for the education and continuing professional development of public school teachers, as well as those aspiring to teach in the public schools. We salute Ateneo alumnus JJ Atencio (AHS ’79, AdMU ’83) for exemplifying his alma mater’s motto of being a “light in the Lord” (LUX IN DOMINO).