Biography

Jualim “Alim” D. Vela, PhD ([email protected]) graduated from UP Diliman College of Fine Arts majoring in Visual Communication, and obtained his first Master’s degree in Education majoring in Educational Technology also at UP Diliman. He earned a scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT) and studied at Hiroshima City University between 2006 and 2008 majoring in sculpture. He obtained his second Master’s degree in 2010 and earned his Ph.D. in 2015 majoring in Educational Development at the Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University. He was a special education scholar at the Philippine High School for the Arts majoring visual arts in high school.

Alim has participated in exhibitions in Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam. In the Philippines, Alim showcased his works in various creative spaces and private galleries such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Gallery, the GSIS gallery, the Art Camp Gallery, Art Center Gallery, Altro Mondo Arte Contemporanea gallery, Art Anton Gallery, Nova Gallery Manila and other local galleries. He was one of the Semifinalists in the 2004 Metrobank MADE Sculpture competition and a finalist and one of the Philippine Representatives in the 2001 OITA Biennale International Sculpture Competition in Japan.

In research, Alim has presented his research papers at various international conferences such as the 15th Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities, the 5th Kyoto Conference on Arts Media and Culture, the 12th International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, the 7th International Conference on Science in Society, the 9th International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic, and Social Sustainability and other national and regional conferences.

Currently, Alim is a faculty member of the Visual and Performing Arts Division in the Department of Humanities at the College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños and a visiting faculty at the Philippine High School for the Arts, Visual Arts Program.