Sacrificial Bodies: The Oblation and the Political Aesthetics of Masculine Representations in Philippine Visual Cultures by Dr. Reuben Ramas Cañete, Associate Professor at the Asian Center, has been awarded the Alfonso T. Ongpin Prize for Best Book on Art by the National Book Development Board. 

Published by the University of the Philippines Press in 2012, Sacrificial Bodies explores “how the act of heroic sacrifice against foreign aggression has been transformed into a means of liberating generations of Filipinos form all forms of oppressions through the iconic pose and location of Guillermo Tolentino’s sculpture, the Oblation” (back cover).

The book also “chronicles the ideas, philosophies, and genealogy of this statue from the turn of the century to the present, combining approaches in anthropology, art history, political science, and literary theory…” (back cover).

Sacrificial Bodies is one of several books that have won a National Book Award, which is sponsored by the National Book Development Board. The NBDB is “mandated to develop and support the Philippine book publishing industry.”

The book is available in local bookshops and at the University of the Philippines Press bookstore in UP Diliman. For more information about the book, visit the UP Press website.

PHOTOS: Front cover of Sacrificial Bodies and Dr. Cañete posing with his award behind the Bonifacio exhibit banner at the Asian Center.