SAN FRANCISCO 23 October 2018 — Emphasizing the significance of love and respect among Filipino-Americans of their Filipino roots, Philippine Consul General Henry S. Bensurto, Jr. graced the opening of the photo exhibit entitled, “The Alvarado Project: Compositions: A Filipino American Experience in San Francisco,” on 09 October 2018 at the Hiram Johnson State Building, The Great Hall.
The exhibit shows milestones and snapshots of everyday life of both Filipino immigrants and other migrants from various races in the Bay Area.
Consul General Bensurto thanked the Alvarado Family for sharing the photo collection of Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado, who arrived in California in 1928 as a teenager in the earlier waves of Filipino migration to America and later on served in the US military during World War II.
Former California State Senator Mark Leno and incumbent Senator Scott Wiener, as well as members of the Filipino community attended the event. The guests of honor paid tribute to the Alvarado Family, especially on the passing of Melie Asuncion, founding Board Member of the Alvarado Project, and Norberta Alvarado, wife of Ricardo.
“We are grateful that through the beautiful works of art of a great photographer, [we] are able to understand culture…the life, the smiles [of subjects of the photos] show what it was like to live at that time,” said the Consul General.
He underscored the Filipino concept of family and belongingness, which goes beyond the nuclear family and extends to the whole community, as captured in the photos.
The Consul General thanked Ricardo’s daughter, Janet, who serves as Executive Director and Curator of the Alvarado Project, through the support of the Smithsonian Institution, for putting together the extensive photo collection of her father.
From 2002-2006, The Alvarado Project completed a successful national tour of the moving exhibit of photos by Ricardo, titled, “Through My Father’s Eyes.”
Filipino-American Janelle Feraro sang the national anthems of the Philippines and the United States at the exhibit opening.
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For more information, visit www.sanfranciscopcg.dfa.gov.ph, www.philippinessanfrancisco.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHinSF.
