MANILA — The Supreme Court is commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with an art installation by noted multi-media artist Toym de Leon Imao.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted on Dec. 10, 1948 as the world acknowledged the inherent dignity and equality of all human life. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is also a pledge to renounce all forms of infringement upon these principles.
The Imao installation, which opened to public viewing Thursday, is entitled “Desaparecidos: Memorializing Absence, Remembering the Disappeared” and will be displayed at the halls of the Court until Dec. 10, the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The work consists of 43 sculpted figures with disfigurements representing the void left in the lives of family members who have been victims of rights abuses.
Also on display is the “Santa Sierra Madre”, a sculpture using religious imagery and popular culture.
Imao, a sculptor and painter for more than 30 years, received his formal training at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He later obtained his master’s degree from the Maryland Institute College of Arts under a Fulbright Scholarship.
He also studied under National Artists for the Visual Arts Napoleon Abueva, and Abdulmari Imao, his father.