Filipino Sculptor Wins Beijing Olympics Sculpting Contest

A Filipino artist has won the grand prize for the sculpture category of the Olympic Sports and Art Contest of the International Olympic Committee and his works will be on display at the Olympic Expo in Beijing, reported local TV network GMA News on Wednesday.

Joe Datuin, who is from Dagupan, Pangasinan in northern Philippines, bested other artists from 36 countries and regions for his masterpiece entitled "Dancing Rings", said the report. Inspired by the 2008 Olympics emblem "Dancing Beijing," Datutin's "Dancing Emblem" which looks like a man (in white) dancing and surrounded by the color red would be rewarded 30,000 U.S. dollars and a diploma, according to the report.

This is not the first award from the Olympics of the Filipino artist. In 1980, Datuin's poster outshined 6,000 participants from other countries in the Moscow Olympic Poster Design.

A graduate of the prestigious Fine Arts student in the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, he had already exhibited his artworks of environmental abstract masterpieces at the Philippine Center in New York City in 2005.