Thousands of artists gather for the biggest Arts Festival in the Philippines by Marlet Salazar

The artsphere is gearing up for yet another festive and fruitful month as the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) launches “Ani ng Sining,” the Philippine International Arts Festival (PIAF) in celebration of National Arts Month per Presidential Proclamation No. 683 in 1991. It will be the womb for the hosting of the Asean Ministerial and Experts Meeting on Culture and Arts Festival.

Now on its 19th year, Arts Month will bring together thousands of artists from all over the country to cultivate love for the arts and preserve culture in line with the UNESCO observance of the International Year of the Rapprochement of Cultures. It promises to be grand on visuals and enriching in the mind as well. As arts goes to key cities nationwide the festival, which has gone international, aims to instill the richness of Philippine tradition to all Filipinos. In touring the seven different art forms, the festival aims to raise awareness and to discover artists whose talents are left untapped due to lack of venues.

According to NCCA Executive Director Cecille Guidote-Alvarez, the Philippines, under the leadership of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, holds the honor of being dubbed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as the 1st Cultural Capital of ASEAN for 2010 and 2011. In 2007, the Philippines successfully hosted the heads of states summit in Cebu. Likewise, the Philippine International Theater Center, with the support from the Asean Director General and NCCA, organized the Regional MDG Performance and Media Arts workshop from Ancestral Roots to New Routes of Artistic Expression.

The NCCA chaired by Education Undersecretary Dr. Vilma Labrador has been bringing the “Ani ng Sining” celebrations to different agencies and institutions around the country since 2005 as an avenue for the application of culture as a force for education and a vehicle for social transformation.

The preparations for this month-long activity, which happens in February 2010, are already under way with the committee heads lining up various seminars, workshops, exhibits, and performances.

Aptly themed “Ani ng Sining,” PIAF assembles the best of the best as well as the budding talents with the hope of nurturing arts and culture for future generations. The seasoned artists may learn new ideas from the youth of the digital age and may see arts in a different perspective. The youth, in turn, will learn from the experiences of their esteemed counterparts.

“Aquatecture” of the Committee on Architecture and Allied Arts is set to hold a multimedia and installation exhibition exploring the many uses and images of water in relation to architecture. Major exhibitions and seminars will tour Manila and the Visayas. Arch. Gerard Lico, PhD, Vice-head of the Architecture Committee, implements the program.

The Committee on Dance led by Shirley Halili-Cruz pursues yet another program to bring dance in all its diversity to grassroots. “Sayaw Pinoy 2010: Creating Venues of Creative Interaction through Dance” links mainstream and traditional dances and provides opportunity for the dance artists to exchange ideas and expertise.

Film enthusiasts will have to block off the dates for Cinema Rehiyon by the Committee on Cinema led by Dr. Miguel Rapatan, together with Vice-Head, Teddy Co. For this Arts Month, Cinema Rehiyon goes yearlong to reach out to more regions in the country. These efforts may help revitalize the film industry. Recent recognitions from international film festivals are proof that Philippine cinema is alive and kicking. The committee will also hold dialogues and workshops with the aim of deepening the understanding and treatment of cinema.

Taboan 2010: 2nd Philippine Writers Festival of the Committee on Literary Arts headed by Arts Sub-Commissioner Ricardo de Ungria, PIAF Festival Director, is probably the busiest with a long lineup of talks and fora by renowned writers. Topics range from writing critical reviews to eco literature to historical writing. The committee decides to recognize prolific writers from the Visayas region. This year, there will also be interaction with other writers from different countries.

The Committee on Visual Arts led by Egai Fernandez goes to Boracay for the Philippine Visual Arts Festival (PIVAF). Sand sculpture is just one of the highlights of the festival, which also include printmaking, photography, and body painting competition. The festival is looking at opening more doors to new talents and exhibiting the works of seasoned and award-winning Filipino visual artists.

Musician Joey Ayala leads the Committee on Music in staging Organik Muzik 2: Palay Bigas Kanin. Ayala and company are set to bring together traditional and contemporary music with Radioactive Sago Project and the likes of Cynthia Alexander. The committee hopes to invite 300 artists for performances and to participate in fora and talks.

Tanghal: 4th National University and College Theater by the Committee on Dramatic Arts headed by Dr. Glecy Cruz Atienza will recognize the efforts of school theater groups in nurturing theater arts among the youth. There will be theater performances, conferences, and interactions with invited international artists.

The international component is undertaken in liaison with the IAO led by Deputy Executive Director and Philippine ITI Secretary General Malou Jacob.

For more details and concerns, please contact Mr. Rene Napeñas, PIAF Media Director and Head of the NCCA-Public Affairs and Information Office (PAIO) at 09285081057/ 09275582656 and 527-5529, or Ms. Vanessa Marquez, PIAF Deputy Festival Manager, at 527-2209 or 09186380412. You could also call us at 527-2192 loc. 612-615 or email us at ncca.paio@gmail.com

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“Ani ng Sining,” the Philippine International Arts Festival (PIAF) on February 2010

The artsphere is gearing up for yet another festive and fruitful month as the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) launches “Ani ng Sining,” the Philippine International Arts Festival (PIAF) in celebration of National Arts Month per Presidential Proclamation No. 683 in 1991.

Now on its 19th year, PIAF will bring together thousands of artists from all over the country to cultivate love for the arts and preserve culture. It promises to be grand on visuals and enriching in the mind as well. As arts goes to key cities nationwide, the festival aims to instill the richness of Philippine tradition among all Filipinos. In touring the seven different art forms, it not only raises awareness but also discovers artists whose talents are left untapped due to lack of venues.

The preparations for this month-long activity, which happens in February 2010, are already underway with the various committee heads lining up seminars, workshops, exhibits, and performances.

Aptly themed “Ani ng Sining,” PIAF will assemble the best of the best as well as the raw talents with the hope of nurturing arts and culture for future generations. The seasoned artists may learn new ideas from the kids of the digital age and may see arts in a different perspective. The youth, in turn, learn from the experiences of their esteemed counterparts.

“Aquatecture” of the Committee on Architecture and Allied Arts is set to hold a multimedia and installation exhibition exploring the many uses and images of water in relation to architecture. Renowned architect Henry Yap leads the committee. Major exhibitions and seminars will tour Manila and the Visayas.

Shirley Halili-Cruz, chair of the Committee on Dance, pursues yet another program to bring dance in all its diversity to grassroots. “Sayaw Pinoy 2010: Creating Venues of Creative Interaction through Dance” links mainstream and traditional dances and provides opportunity for the dance artists to exchange ideas and expertise.

Film enthusiasts will have to block of the dates for Cinema Rehiyon by the Committee on Cinema led by Dr. Miguel Rapatan, together with Vice-Head, Teddy Co. For this PIAF, Cinema Rehiyon goes yearlong to reach out to more regions in the country. These efforts may help revitalize the film industry. Recent awards from international film festivals are proof that Philippine cinema is alive and kicking. The committee will also hold dialogues and workshops with the aim of deepening the understanding and treatment of cinema.

Taboan 2010: 2nd Philippine Writers Festival of the Committee on Literary Arts headed by Commissioner Ricardo de Ungria, PIAF Festival Director who is also the head of the Subcommission on the Arts, is probably the busiest with a long lineup of talks and fora by renowned writers. Topics range from writing critical reviews to eco literature to historical writing. The committee decides to recognize prolific writers from the Visayas region. This year, there will also be interaction with other writers from different parts of the world.

The Committee on Visual Arts led by Egai Fernandez goes to Boracay for the Philippine Visual Arts Festival (PIVAF). Sand sculpture is just one of the highlights of the festival, which also include printmaking, photography, and body painting competition. The festival looks at opening more doors to new talents and exhibiting the works of seasoned and award-winning Filipino visual artists.

Musician Joey Ayala leads the Committee on Music in staging Organik Muzik 2: Palay Bigas Kanin. Ayala and company are set to bring together traditional and contemporary music with young artists like Radioactive Sago Project and the likes of Cynthia Alexander. The committee hopes to invite 300 artists for performances and to participate in fora and talks.

Tanghal: 4th National University and College Theater by the Committee on Dramatic Arts headed by Dr. Glecy Cruz Atienza will recognize the efforts of school theater groups in nurturing theater arts among the youth. There will be theater performances, conferences, and interactions with invited international artists.

With the prospect of a surpassing the success of previous years arts festival, PIAF 2010 is set to capture one’s imagination and bring the arts to the consciousness of all Filipinos.

Also, the NCCA, headed by Chairman and DepEd Undersecretary, Dr. Vilma Labrador, and NCCA Executive Director Cecile Guidote Alvarez, has been bringing the “Ani ng Sining” celebrations to various agencies and institutions around the Philippines since 2005.

Should you need more details or have any concerns, please contact Mr. Rene Napeñas, PIAF Media Director and Head of the NCCA-Public Affairs and Information Office (PAIO) at 09285081057/ 09275582656 and 527-5529, or Ms. Vanessa Marquez, PIAF Deputy Festival Manager, at 527-2209 or 09186380412. You could also call us at 527-2192 loc. 612-615 or email us at ncca.paio@gmail.com

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Bakás: Fifty Years of Printmaking, November 26, 2009 to January 30, 2010

The Philippine Association of Printmakers (PAP) celebrates its 40th Anniversary with Bakás: Limampung Taon ng Malikhaing Paglilimbag (Fifty Years of Printmaking) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The exhibit opens on 26 November, Thursday, 5 pm at the Bulwagang Juan Luna (Main Gallery), 3/F Main Theater Building of CCP.

The art of fine printmaking has drawn the interest of local artists since the 1950s. But it was not until the 1960s that training was made available to young artists through the efforts of Manuel Rodriguez Sr.. In 1969, the PAP was formed with most of his students and himself as founding members.

Printmaking may not attract as many followers as the art of painting but it continues to sustain a constant group of committed practitioners and advocates who have established their reputation in this fine art medium. Through workshops and lectures, PAP members have encouraged veteran and young artists to explore printmaking using traditional and experimental methods. Current PAP officers conceived of this anniversary event to give recognition to artists within and outside the PAP who have supported and promoted its cause.

The exhibit begins with a brief historical overview marking highlights in printmaking practice and the growth of the PAP. The main part focuses on the different printmaking techniques done in the four basic printing methods namely serigraphy, relief, intaglio, and planographic process. In each section works by artists across decades will reveal the range of styles and creativity that can be achieved through technical variations and experimentations.

Selected works from the CCP print collection serves as the core of the exhibition. By itself, it is already a significant gathering of works. Other works are loaned from artists, institutional and private collections. Featured works include those by national artists Vicente Manansala, Cesar Legaspi, Jerry Elizalde Navarro, Arturo Luz and Bencab, and past PAP officials Adiel Arevalo, Ivy Avellana-Cosio, Brenda Fajardo, Imelda Cajipe-Endaya, Romulo Olazo, Pandy Aviado, Fil dela Cruz, and Raul Isidro. The exhibit will also feature artists who are not strictly practitioners in this art form but have incorporated printmaking techniques and concepts with different mediums, e.g., painting and sculpture, thus creating hybrid and mixed media works. These include Roberto Chabet, Gerry Tan, Raymundo Albano, and Fernando Modesto. Altogether, the exhibit will feature over eighty artists representing different periods, generations, and styles.

The opening will be preceded by the book launch of Manuel Rodiguez, Sr.: Into the Threshold at 4 pm in the same venue. Mr. Rodriguez will be among the honored guests during the opening event. This exhibit is organized in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

Bakás: Fifty Years of Printmaking will be on view until 30 January 2010.


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Metropolitan Museum of Manila opens the exhibit SIGLA AND SIKAP: Exulting the Filipino Industry

In celebration of the Filipino’s enterprising spirit, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila opens the exhibit Sigla at Sikap: Exulting the Filipino Industry which features more than thirty Bangko Sentral artworks that capture the Filipino at work.

Sigla at Sikap celebrates the resilience of the Filipino worker –the mat weaver, the food peddler, the farmer, the vegetable seller - who have made the country’s regional economy vibrant throughout the different stages of Philippine history. As it displays works of artists, from different time periods and different persuasions, that extol the varied forms of Filipino industry, the exhibition captures the Filipino worker at his finest --diligent, patient, honest, creative, and optimistic.

Sigla at Sikap also touches on the great role that micro enterprises serve in answering unemployment in the country. The informal sector, or the unregistered businesses that operate at a low level of technology, employ about 10.5 million Filipinos, or a little more than 10% of the 92 million Filipinos. Small and medium sized enterprises, through the aid of loan-giving institutions like rural and government banks, propel a dynamic business environment in places such as remote barrios and depressed inner cities; creating occupational opportunities to communities and individuals that include housewives, out-of-school youths, and even the elderly.

In these small enterprises, women play non-traditional yet vital roles. They often multitask as owners, managers, administrators, accountants, salesmen, and/or marketers. Through the exhibit, women are publicly recognized for the challenging and pivotal roles they undertake as entrepreneurs, and for the transformative, positive, and multiplier effect they bring to their community. This recognition has been bestowed by Filipino artists to these hardworking women, silently yet powerfully, through their art. This can be seen, for example, in Jose Blanco’s magnificent Puto Bungbong or Norma Belleza’s colorful Magpuprutas, two of the artworks from the BSP Collection featured in the exhibit.

The exhibit opened on July 3 and will run until January 30, 2010 at the Galeriya Bangko Sentral of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

As a collateral to the exhibit, the Museum will offer a bag-making workshop slated on the first half of the month of October. The workshop will employ used paper like old newspaper and magazines as the main material in the production of bags. It will run for 12 sessions with each intensive session lasting for 3 hours. The Bag-Making Workshop will be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila on October 6, 8, 10, 13, 15 and 17, and will be facilitated by bag expert Ms. Lulu Ocampo. The morning session is at 9-12 noon while the afternoon session will take place at 1-4 pm.

The fee for the bag-making workshop is P5,000.00 per head which is inclusive of materials. A group discount of 10% is given to groups of 5 people and also to those who register for the program on or before September 22, Tuesday. Registration entails full payment or a 50% down payment. For inquiries and enrollment to the workshop, please call the Museum’s Marketing Department at 523-0613 or 521-1517.

The Metropolitan Museum of Manila is located at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Malate, Manila. It is open from Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 6 pm.

For details about the exhibit and its collateral activities, the Museum can be reached at 523-7855 or 536-1566 through the Exhibitions and Education Programs Department. Online inquiries can be directed to info@metmuseum.ph. The Museum can be reached online at http://www.metmuseum.ph.

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MODERN MASTERS OF FIGURATIVE INDIAN PAINTINGS AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM from November 6, 2009 to January 30, 2010

The Metropolitan Museum of Manila closes a dynamic year of international art shows with a November exhibition of Indian contemporary art, currently one of Asia’s most active. Entitled Kalpana, Sanskrit for imagination, the exhibit presents the figurative form in Indian art as seen in the last one hundred years through the works of fourteen of its best known painters, all prominent members of the art community in their country and abroad. These artists are the who’s who of Indian art: Jamini Roy, Amrita Shergil, MF Husain, KG Subramanyan, FN Souza, Krishen Khanna, Tyeb Mehta, Bhupen Khakhar, A. Ramachandran, Arpita Singh, Jogen Chowdhury, Anjolie Ela Menon, Manjit Bawa, and Arpana Caur.

The touring exhibit presents excellent quality digital reproductions of original artworks, each approved by the respective artist and/or collector and authorized to the Indian Council for Cultural Relations for presentation in different international venues.

Kalpana gives a glimpse of different influences that have shaped Indian contemporary art—from local painting traditions of rural and folk art, miniaturism, mural painting, to Hindu-inspired illustrations. The exhibit also presents artworks that resulted in the synergy of Indian artistic expressions with Western art that loudly emerged in the Indian art scene during the 1950s, spurred by the seminal Progressive Artists Group of Souza, Khana and Husain.

For the Philippine leg of the Kalpana tour, the Indian works are placed in conversation with works by an equally distinguished selection of Filipino painters such as National Artists Bencab, Cesar Legaspi, Vicente Manansala, J. Elizalde Navarro and Ang Kiukok, as well as Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Nena Saguil, Malang, Galo Ocampo, Prudencio Lamarroza, Antipas Delotavo and Onib Olmedo, to reveal confluences and divergences in the modern figurative painting tradition between the two cultures. The Philippine works in the exhibit have been loaned from the excellent painting collections of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

KALPANA: 14 Figurative Painters of India in Conversation with Filipino Artists will be on view to the public beginning November 6 until January 30 at the Upper Galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. It is co-presented by the Embassy of India with the support of the National Commission for Culture and the

Arts and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Diplomatic Relations between the Philippines and India.

The Met Museum is located at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

Museum hours are from Monday to Saturday, 9am – 6pm.
For inquiries, call 523-7855 or email info@metmuseum.ph

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