When floral architect and artist Rachy Cuna first mounted his DramaCuna exhibit at the National Museum last February 2010, he was only counting on it as a one-time show, nothing more, nothing less.

He was wrong. DramaCuna has become a moving exhibit. His installation artworks are made out of simple materials such as wooden slippers (bakya), twigs, bingo cards and chips, rattan balls, styled with floral elements along with other materials.

“People are usually amazed at the things they see at DramaCuna because of the artworks’ simplicity and the fact that they are fashioned out of simple things typically taken for granted,” he says.

This piqued the interest of some organizations such as the Bayanihan Folk Arts Foundation. With additional prodding through invitations to exhibit from schools and universities in the metro, Cuna decided to take on the challenge.

After the National Museum three-month exhibit stint, he went on to display his masterpieces at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) from May to July this year.

Now, he has moved his art crafts to the Philippine Women’s University’s (PWU) Center for Culture, Arts, Music and Sports (CCAMS) gallery at Taft Avenue in Malate, Manila where art enthusiasts and students have a chance to appreciate the beauty of Cuna’s creations until July 31, 2010.

“When the Bayanihan dancers performed for my exhibit at the National Museum last February, they told me that they hope I could have my artworks showcased someday at the PWU, which is the home of the dance group,” he shares.

Cuna finds fulfillment in bridging the cultural gap by bringing art closer to Filipinos. “It feels very nice to do this. This is like my personal outreach to showing my artworks in different venues. It’s not every day that students, or people in general, have the time to go to the museums and exhibition areas. I told myself that it is probably nice to make DramaCuna a travelling exhibit,” he explains.

So where does Cuna source his inspiration and what keeps him motivated in his field?

“Well, I just move around everywhere. From wet markets to trade shows to road sides to small stores in the provinces nationwide… I see simple things into another level,” he says adding that “this is to show the Filipino people, and hopefully the world, that there are simple things that we can turn into dramatic objects and to also let others see that we have a lot of beautiful things here in the Philippines.”

As PWU-CCAMS head Suzie Moya Benitez puts it, “Cuna makes you understand that you can make something out of anything.”

And it looks like there is no stopping Cuna for now as he will continuously move his DramaCuna exhibit from one place to another in an effort to raise the bar for Philippine art.

You may visit the DramaCuna exhibit at the PWU-CCAMS gallery on weekdays from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm until July 31, 2010. For more information, call the PWU-CCAMS office at 524-6285, 525-1685, 526-8421 local 120 and 206.