• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The Negros Museum in Bacolod City hosted the opening of the first exhibit and book launch of Negrense twins Arnel and Ariel Villaceran titled “Lines Beyond the Lines,” on September 19, which will run through November.
The exhibit features the poems of Ariel which have been interpreted by his brother Arnel through drawings. Their collaboration resulted in a book, also titled Lines Beyond the Lines.
“The exhibition aims to elevate the poems to another level of appreciation by way of transforming them into illustrations. It features selected poems composed by Ariel, interpreted through the visual artistry of his twin brother Arnel. The poems serve as doses of reflection drawn from personal experiences and reflective ideas. The accompanying artworks are illustrated expressions by the artist, inspired by the poems,” the artist’s statement said.
Arnel is a visual artist based in Bacolod City, while Ariel is a licensed professional teacher. The twins are natives of Bantayan Island, Cebu. Arnel earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in Advertising Arts from La Consolacion-Bacolod, where Ariel also earned his Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education.
Ariel is currently pursuing his Master of Arts in Education majoring in English, while teaching creative writing, media information literacy, reading and writing, practical research, and creative non-fiction in senior high school (DepEd).
Arnel, on the other hand, has participated in various group exhibits and held his first solo show, Himulak, at Galerie G in 2023. In 2025, he opened his second solo exhibit, Waves: Currents from Bygone Time, mounted at the Art Cove of Park Inn by Radisson Bacolod.
The brothers held their first two-man show in February 2024 at Maya Art Space at Tippy’s Bistro, Bacolod City, titled “Beyond the Lines,” which also featured both paintings and poems – marking the beginning of their collaborative journey.
Guests of honor at the opening of the exhibit at The Negros Museum on Sept. 19, were Moreen Austria, a member of the Executive Council of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), visual artist/writer Bro. Emmanuel Hilado, and Lyn Gamboa and Mila Chiu, Negros Cultural Foundation president and secretary, respectively.*
