Building blocks of friendship and culture

The Royal Danish Embassy in Manila hosted “Project Amorsolo,” a showcase of Filipino and Danish masterpieces, in partnership with PinoyLUG, a Filipino community of Lego users accredited by the Lego Group (TLG). “Project Amorsolo” featured artworks by National Artist of the Philippines Fernando Amorsolo such as his “Bayanihan,” “Dalagang Bukid,” and “Early Traders,” which were all reinterpreted and recreated using Lego bricks.

In the same event, Danish Embassy Ambassador, H.E. Franz Michael Mellbin and Mme. Eve Fischer Mellbin, together with PinoyLUG President and Lego Ambassador Network (LAN) Ambassador Leslie Araujo also unveiled the artwork “Anna Ancher and Marie Krøyer” by Danish realist Michael Ancher.

These mosaics were made by groups of Filipino Lego users, with more than 100 members who are all enthusiasts of the popular interlocking plastic bricks toy that traces its origins from Denmark.

The idea behind “Project Amorsolo” started during the pandemic, Araujo said, while he was going through the collection of postcards of his father, who was an Amorsolo fan. “He kept those postcards because he really liked them,” Araujo added.

To recreate each masterpiece, they divided the artwork into panels, which were then assigned to each group to work on. At that point, it was still called “Project Amor,” as the groups were not aware of the “bigger picture,” so to speak, or what piece they were working on.

“Everything took a year to finish—from assembling everything to framing, and then delivering [the pieces] to the Cultural Center of the Philippines for the initial launch,” Araujo explained.

Present at the launch of the exhibit were relatives of Amorsolo, which included his grandson Fernando “Nandy” Amorsolo-Lazo, who is vice president and executive director of the Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation (FCAAF) and his mother Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo, who is herself an artist and is president of FCAAF. Also present were Ma-ann Lazo and relatives of PinoyLUG members.

‘Project Amorsolo’ was launched on Oct. 2 at the residence of the Danish ambassador, as part of its design and creative campaign to celebrate 77 years of diplomatic relations between Denmark and the Philippines.