Kumusta? That’s my twisted tongue for “Como estas?”—I heard that’s Spanish for “How are you?” This is NANSAN, back on the STATUS blog since my first entry back in 2009. I walk the city everyday, and these are what I see. You call it sight, I call it vision. So TAG ALONG, will you? From now on, you’re my guide.

1. This week is loaded with art. Last Friday, I got stopped by security while illegally taking photos at The Met (Yes, we have one in Manila). Don’t hold it against me coz PICASSOS ARE IN TOWN! They knew what I was up to, so they gave me the files I could share with you instead. The prints are from the Suite Vollard–that’s named after the guy, Ambroise Vollard, who organized Picasso’s first Paris exhibit. It’s a pretty intimate collection—and that’s why the image here is marked legit–so don’t die without seeing it for a hundred bucks.

Pablo Picasso Familia de saltimbanquis, 30 marzo 1930 FUNDACION MAPFRE’s Collections © Sucesión Pablo Picasso. VEGAP. Madrid, 2011 Pablo Picasso

Before you get too excited, no, “Guernica” is not there, but you’ll see the buildup to the masterpiece. What I found most interesting in these prints is this meta-series of sketches comprising a self-portrait, a rendition of models or his muse, and then a shift in style depicting sculptures. But it’s not all amusing. The latter prints show the emergence of a “Blind Minotaur” during the time of the imminent Spanish Civil War and WWII. Dark stuff? Guess that’s how you get enlightened about a genius.

2. CINEMA ONE ORIGINALS FESTIVAL 2011 started last week, and the star, so far, has been the extra convincing horror extra Lilia Cuntapay. She haunted the judges’ minds and won as the festival’s Best Actress last night. The screenings at Shangri-La mall ends tomorrow, but you can still catch Lilia’s winning performance in upcoming screenings at UP Film Institute.

3. Here’s another win this week: my favorite Number Line Records has made TARSIUS’ PRIMATE available for free download. If you don’t know yet, that’s Pedicab’s Diego Mapa and Radioactive Sago Project’s Jay Gapasin in one credible electronic package. It’s my record of the now—filled with the goodness of noontime show hosting, sweet vocals from the lovely Slow Hello, and Caliph8 experiments among many other things.

4. I’m not sure if that was an opening or that was it–because there were some image projections, and there was a fighting cock, which disappeared later that night–but last Friday, TBC MANILA happened in Intramuros, and that’s where the cooler kids were at. I heard one of the artists is KAWS’s girlfriend (Julia Chiang), it has STATUS homie Anton Lopez, and what you see above is the work of Young Kim, his work as the performance figure Suitman. No, not little Rizals as I suspected—I mean they did the show in Intramuros, okay? And these are local kids, I believe. If it’s not ongoing anymore, I’m sorry to say that you missed out.

*Update: The show runs til January 8.

5. Aside from Cinema One and Italian Film Festival both ongoing, CINEMANILA 2011 is what’s up. It opened with Wim Wenders’s Pina  in 3D, and there are a lot to rave about for an arthouse maniac, the pretension I’ve surrendered five years ago. Personally, I’m looking forward to see John Torres’s Mapang-akit  and Gainsbourg: a Heroic Life. How about you?—NANSAN