FROM WRITER TO VISUAL ARTIST: DELOS SANTOS HOLDS FIRST SOLO EXHIBIT

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Karay-a writer Alex C. Delos Santos, who goes by his pseudonym Datu Lubay, opens his first solo exhibition dubbed DE.KON.STRAK.SYON: The Art of Datu Lubay at City Mall Antique starting today, February 20 to March 1.

The exhibit features 20 artworks he has completed last year, four years after he survived Covid-19. During his recuperation, he quit his main job as a college instructor at the University of Antique, and he focused on creative activities to keep himself away from depression. In 2025, he decided to work on an idea that had been brewing in his mind: to upcycle clothes that had been gathering molds in his parador; some of them he had worn for years, and some had become thin from wear and tear, some he had overgrown. Using them in his artworks helped him keep the memories he had with them, and is symbolically and act of moving on.

Delos Santos is among the pioneer writers from Antique who used Kinaray-a as their medium. He is credited as the father of contemporary Kinaray-a literature, after publishing his first book “The Rise of Kinaray-a” (Libro Agustino, 2003). He earned his first recognition as a writer in 1992 when he won the Literature Grant for Kinaray-a poetry from the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), and has also won awards from the NCCA poetry contest, Homelife National Poetry Prize, and Aklat Alamid. To date he has authored nine books, including “Mga Kanta ni Datu Lubay” (2003), “Agi, agi, may putay sa dahi” (2006), “Ugsad kang Kinaray-a” (2007), “Mga Sugidanun ni Datu Lubay” (2010), “Mga Kwento ni Datu Lubay” (2012), “Gugma ni Datu Lubay” (2015), Antikeniana: Essays on Antique (2016), and “Ang Tradisyon nga Kinaray-a” (2019), and his next poetry book “Kon ang Gabii Indi Makaturog” will soon be off the press, published by Kasingkasing Press.

As visual artist, Delos Santos works with textile collages, mixed media, soft sculptures, and also designs for his own souvenirs and clothing brand ALEXiO. He is also a theater artist, having directed for Teatro San Antonio, Hiraya Theater Company, and Teatro Antiqueño. In social media, he is known in Facebook as Karay-a Angkol. @