The 'Letizia: A Life in Letters' exhibit introduces historian Letizia Roxas-Constantino through her personal letters and other curio

An exhibit of letters penned by writer and historian Letizia Roxas-Constantino, wife of historian Renato Constantino, opened on Wednesday at the Linangan Gallery on Panay Avenue in Quezon City.

"Letizia: A Life in Letters" has on display Intimate letters spanning eight decades, anecdotes of her life, as well as notes of wisdom from the artist that doesn't just introduce, but hopes to reflect her grace, intellect, heart and substance as a writer, Constantino Foundation managing director Red Constantino, says.

"It is an exhibit that honors the nationalist, the historian, the writer, the generational Filipina that she was. No burloloy, only consition, only substance and something that Letizia embodies, elegance," he said.

"The exhibit represents a sliver of a fingernail of letters, manuscripts, and other artifacts that she worked on which represents an incredibly tiny fracture of what remains covered in boxes inside the Constantino Foundation compound," he added.

According to Constantino, there is still so much material remaining to be uncovered. "But that is a tomorrow challenge. Tonight until May 30, we will honor Letizia," he said.<

Going Through her Letters

Karmina Constantino, curator and granddaughter of Letizia, recalled how receiving a letter from her grandmother meant so much for her.

"You receive a letter from her and you feel as if you're the single most important person in the world," the journalist said. "Opening the envelope it came in meant sharing space and time only with her and she with you."

Karmina said her bond with her grandmother was like no other, " as did my siblings and my cousins. Such was her gift."

So when they lost her in 2016, Karmina admitted to being "unfixable."

"So much so that when I was tasked to lead the family towards mounting this exhibit, there was a lot of hesitation on my part," Karmina said.

"How can I celebrate her life when I was still mourning over her loss? Even years later. But then, the love. The love she left and the love we will always have for her — that consumed me," she said.

Going through the letters allowed Karmina to feel her grandmother's love again. It soon "served as the foundation for every reading adventure we took as we dove through stacks upon stacks of letters, notes, documents."

According to Karmina, it was this love that guided the family, pointing them to photos, artifacts, piano recordings. "This love served as the beacon for finding how this exhibit should take its shape," she said.

The exhibit doesn't show introduce the writer, it also allows visitors to experience her life — or at least what a typical day was for her. An interactive wall has been set up where visitors can full up her day's tasks, while voice recordings of family members will keep visitors company as they move through the displays.

Karmina went on to say: "I don't know if you all had the great fortune of meeting Letizia Roxas-Constantino, but to all those who had the pleasure of spending even just a minute with her, I am sure you will agree with me when I say, the only way of knowing her is to experience her."

Karmina thanked the exhibit's designer Ohm David for amplifying the life of Letizia through his art.  

 

"All of these we had strived to make come alive through the magic that only the equally enchanted Ohm David could conjure," the journalist said.

 

"He had the unenviable assignment to read life into inanimate objects, make the woven words jump out of the paper they were written on, make Letizia herself seem as if she is once again with us," she added.

"And that he did, so thank you all. And so as you walk through the exhibit, may you get lost in the letters she wrote, and may you find your way back to how remarkable she was and why she must not be the last of her kind."

For his part the exhibit's designer Ohm David said that the letters are very personal but it speaks directly to the viewers.

"All the letters through someone, through a grandchild, through a co-parent, through a co-teacher, all are intimate but yet when you read her letters, it's like she's talking directly to you," David said.

"That's how loving she is, caring and you see it, you feel it through her letters ... I hope that these letters show in a way who she is," she added.

He hopes that people would also learn something about themselves after visiting the exhibit.

"She puts her heart through her letter whether it's through counting expenses in the house, giving prices to the people, even gifts to her grandchild, talking to them about marriage, talking about relations, their family, she puts all of her in her letters, it makes it intimate, it directly speaks to you," he said.

"So I hope after this exhibit, not only will you come out and know more about Letizia but you know more about yourself through her letters." 

Intil May 30, Linangan Gallery of the Constantino Foundation, 38 Panay Ave., Barangay Paligsahan, Quezon City. 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. except Sundays and holidays.

— LA, GMA Integrated News