Floral architect and lifestyle artist Rachy Cuna is the featured artist for this year's celebration of the National Arts Month.

Chinese New Year. Valentine’s day. Lucky charms for the year of the Tiger. Tai Suey blessings. Roses. Candies. Candle-lit dinners. You better hold your horses…because we are also celebrating National Arts Month this February. Starting the festivities is renowned floral architect of the Philippines Rachy Cuna whose exhibition at the country’s premier art venue is a fit showcase of a Filipino’s natural ingenuity and knack to create something beautiful and witty out of commonplace objects.

Titled ‘dramaCuna,’ Rachy’s three-month-long exhibition, his first at the National Museum, features colorful installations made of indigenous materials and everyday things and some pieces of huge abstract paintings in brilliant red that are accentuated by earth-colored beads. But there is nothing ordinary about Rachy’s pieces, as they are characterized by an innovative and tasteful melding of nature and art. His works also put a fun and playful spin on Filipino customs and traditions and our rich popular culture.

Unforgettable pieces include ‘Bola-bolahan,’ an installation inspired by the card game Bingo. The installation is made up of a queue of over five bingo bottles, holding flower pieces made of bingo cards and metal. ‘Karyoka’ is also one of Rachy’s notable and sweet pieces made of nipa, rattan fruits, and grass. Here, Rachy fashioned the sidewalk snack carioca in a magnified dimension, making them as big as a globe.

During the opening, museum-goers drooled over Rachy’s installation of the bakya in bubblegum pink. Billed ‘…Ni Neneng,’ the work displayed pairs of the famous slippers hanging like a curtain in one part of the exhibition hall. An eye-catching piece called ‘Pinatubo Blooms,’ meanwhile, is a collection of 12-inch hardened lahar balls with flower-shaped metals protruding from each of them. This work is a perfect example of how Rachy considers everything around him worthy to be art—and that even lahar, a product of a tragedy, has potential beauty and, yes, a dramatic effect waiting to be discovered.

Rachy worked for the Ayala Museum as curator from 1973-1988 and at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila from 1988-1992.

As a continuing activity of the exhibition, Rachy will hold a floral demonstration on February 24 at 2 p.m. at the Tambunting Hall, 4th level of the Museum of the Filipino People. The public is invited to participate in the said activity.

The Museum of the Filipino People, National Museum is located at T. Valencia Circle/Finance Road, Rizal Park, Manila. For inquiries or reservations, contact Mel Lagartija or Rizza Salterio of the Museum Education Division at 527-0278.