At first I was inclined to dismiss the debate as a tempest in a teapot.  But when my favorite daily read (www.artdaily.com) carried the story of the furor over Mideo Cruz’s piece, Poleteismo, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, I thought I had better make time to see for myself what the fuss was about.  I admit, I had no plans to drive down to view Kulô, a group exhibit of UST alumni, during the show’s run.  From photos I had seen of its opening night, I figured that majority of the artists who participated in the show chose to submit old works, most of them I had already seen before.  But with the issue of blasphemy vs. artistic freedom dominating the headlines and television news programs, how can any observer of the Manila art scene not take a stand?

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