Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand 
why the old poets of China went so far
and high 
into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Dr. Reuben Ramas Cañete, Associate Professor at the Asian Center and University Artist I, will open his fourth solo exhibition, Kosmograpiya, on Saturday, 7 June 2014 at the ASEAN Hall, GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center, Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. The exhibit will open at 3:00 p.m. and will run until 4 July 2014.

The exhibit features fifty works on paper based on images of cosmic entities like galaxies and nebulae. They are also inspired by the efforts of Asian scholars, philosophers, and scientists to represent and study the cosmic order since the dawn of civilization.

Kosmograpiya, which is Filipino for "cosmography," marks a significant point in Dr. Cañete’s professional career as an artist. It showcases his fascination with astronomy that started in childhood. As a young adult, he read and drew inspiration from the philosophical reflections of astrophysicists like Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking.  In Kosmograpiya, Dr. Cañete attempts to literally “draw the universe” by using abstract techniques of art. View the catalog here (Dropbox, PDF, 30+MB). 

For more information, contact Mr. Ryan Francis Reyes at 63.2.981.8500 local 3580

Dr. Cañete handles graduate courses on Philippine art and culture at the Asian Center, where he is also the Assistant to the Dean for Cultural Affairs and curator of the museum. The Asian Center offers M.A. and Ph.D. programs in Philippine Studies, as well as M.A. degrees in Asian Studies covering any of four regions: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia.