Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray is promoting Philippine arts and culture via a digital show in line with her appointment as arts ambassador of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
During NCCA's online talk show, "Pandayon," the 26-year-old beauty queen revealed she'll soon be working with director Floy Quintos on the series "Kultura 101 With Catriona."
The show sees her "discovering" what is there to know and love about the country's art and culture.
"It's a very light-hearted fun learning experience where the viewers will learn with me about certain topics, certain aspects, or certain things to be admired and behold in our culture," she shared. "I really look forward to everyone being able to see it and to take part, and hopefully learn to love even more our culture through 'Kultura 101.'"
Even before Catriona started joining beauty pageants, she was already an advocate of women empowerment, AIDS awareness, and education.
She feels her latest endeavor is timely as more than ever, people are using digital platforms.
Asked about her passion for the arts, Catriona shared she's always been a huge fan of music and literature. Though there's no musician in her family, she was influenced by her parent's musical taste -- from old jazz to discos---alongside her own that includes classical music and opera.
She also has collection of books as she loves to read. She remembers her parents would read stories to her in bed before going to sleep.
Aside from releasing a new song, Catriona will soon put out her first book "Conquering Your Universe." It will be about the lessons she has learned in her journey so far.
"Kasi po I'm an only child so I didn't really have the opportunity to have older siblings or younger siblings to mentor or guide. I really feel mentoring plays such an integral role especially to the younger generation or the youth. So I hope this book could be like that," she said.