Pinoy sculptor strikes gold in Olympic art contest

Even before the 2008 Beijing Olympics has opened, a Filipino has already struck gold. Filipino sculptor, Joe Datuin recasts the traditional Olympic logo as a flight of the athletic spirit to win the grand prize for sculpture in the prestigious international Sport and Art Contest in connection with the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The art piece, dubbed as “Dancing Rings” reinterprets the traditional horizontal Olympic logo into a vertical leap of faith to denote human solidarity and grace.

Datuin will receive a US$30,000 and a diploma for his winning work.

Meanwhile, another Filipino bagged the Highly Recommended award in the Graphic Arts category of the same contest. Edmar Colmo, a young Iloilo-based artist won a diploma for his work, “Dreams for Goals”.

It was said that 61 entires from 36 countries were screened by an international jury composed of representatives from the International Olympic Committee’s Commission for Culture and Education and art experts from the different continents.

The two winning works, "Dancing Rings" and "Dreams for Goals" will be on display in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne and later, at Olympic Expo in Beijing.