Museum of Bicycling (MoB)
Pedalling for Change Series
Paulina dedicates this special series to her Dad- the late Sandiganbayan Justice German G. Lee, Jr. He had a great love for nature and the outdoors and a most contagious passion for pedalling. “Miski ‘to siya mapangos-pangos, tindak lang gihapon!” (No matter how many times he fell, he never stopped pedalling!)
All the pieces in this collection have a biking turtle as a regular character. His presence symbolizes the endeavour of the bike for change movement which this museum - Museum of Bicycling (MoB) aims to push forward in Cebu. The MoB endeavors to showcase the Bike as a solution to many of our problems. Mobee, the Bike Ambassador(MoB’s mascot) tells us - moving slowly but steadily still moves us forward and eventually gets us to where we commit to go!
There are two other constant elements that you will find in all the pieces: the Gumamela (aka Hibiscus flower) and the coconut tree. The Gumamela blooms all year round while the the coconut is a tropical evergreen (they don't lose their leaves in any particular season and bear fruit year-round). I have put them on all the pieces in this collection to symbolize hope and constancy.
Like the Gumamela and the Coconut, a bicycle is something so ordinary yet it offers extraordinary benefits. Besides being beautiful, the Gumamela also has many health benefits. While the Coconut is the most giving of all tropical plants. Its fruit is only one of the many wonderful things it gives us all year round. Both gumamela and coconut are good parallels to the Bicycle: a simple two wheeled means of transport that provides countless benefits. (health, environmental and financial, the list goes on…)
The works here were created on canvas using acrylic paint, paint sticks and acrylic paint pens.
FYI: The Original location of MOB (Museum of Bicycling) was the ELICON (Ecological Living Conservation House) in Cebu City, but was transfered in 2021 to the Justice German G Lee Jr Nature Sanctuary, Carcar City, Philippines. However, the MOB was severely damaged by Supertyphoon Odette in December of 2021. It is still awaiting much needed repair and reconfiguration. Luckily, the Pedaling for Change collection survived.