I must congratulate our Baguio boy Oliver Olivete for his exhibit, “Laro Tayo: Pagbilang ko ng Tatlo, Nakatago na Kayo” at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Gallery in Intramuros, Manila. His mixed media exhibit using upcycled old wooden home panels and materials celebrated old children games like sungka, palosebo, piko, saranggola, laban ng gagamba, and jack en poy, forgotten by the onslaught of technology and gadgets.
Curated by his good friend from the Mighty Bhutens, Kabunyan de Guia, the exhibit ushered in the National Arts Month for Baguio folks which lasted until Feb. 5.
The National Arts Month was declared by former President Cory Aquino in Proclamation 683 on Jan. 28, 1991. It focused on performing and non-performing arts like theater, music, and dance; media and visual arts; architecture; literature; and film. There was a need to preserve, enrich, and evolve these disciplines in a climate of free artistic and intellectual expression.
In a similar event in Baguio, the Baguio City National High School-Special Performing Arts also celebrated the National Arts Month with its institutionalized non-performing arts and performing arts exhibit at the Baguio Museum entitled, “ATM: The Tales of Our City (Retold by the Youth).”
The exhibit, which opened on Jan. 17, will run until this month, so we invite art enthusiasts and students to come and visit, even while the Baguio Museum is undergoing renovation. The renovation will go on until June funded by the U.S. Embassy in Manila through the 2017 Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Development.
The exhibit invited young illustrator and author of “Igorotak” Tor Sagud as the guest speaker. Sagud has advised the students “to always be passionate about their art, to never let the embers die, to always be virtuous, and to share knowledge.”
He also spoke of his experiences as a young struggling lad who had a hunger for knowledge and later became a scholar then a mentor. He told the students and guests to always love and cherish what they are doing. The exhibit highlighted visual, media, and literary arts and also the participation of the SPA dance, choir, band, and rondalla.
BCNHS Principal, Dr. Brenda Cariño was joined by SPA coordinator Francis Lumiwes and Dr. Lolita Manzano, education supervisor of MAPEH. We give a snappy salute and congratulate the SPA students and mentors for non-performing arts: Ben Ebanio for visual arts. He has been coordinating these activities with the Baguio Museum for the last five years; Jociel Naniong for visual arts; Estelito Mendoza and Roderick Ulep for media arts; Daryl Bosaing and Cherrie Malicay for literary arts English; and Aisa Calabes for literary arts Filipino;
For performing arts: Doris Rullan for choir, Mary Ann dele Cruz for dance, Ruthellen Sagsagap for rondalla, Florel Acfiawen for theater, and Carmencita Juquiana for band.
The National Arts Month opened in Manila with new chair of the NCCA Arsenio Lizaso as speaker. He is also the concurrent president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
Lizaso is known for bringing the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, a resident company of the CCP, to key cities all over the country and abroad. Remember their performance at the Rose Garden last Christmas? It was the highlight of the “Enchanting Baguio Christmas 2019.”
The “Clay Art/Pots and Clay Prints Exhibition” of Jeff van den Broeck opened Feb. 8 at the Bencab Museum in Km. 6 Asin Road. This will be until March 22. For more information, call 442-7165 or 0920-530-1954.
Erratum: Albert Leong is the chair of the Bell Church International. This is to correct my LifeStyle article on “The Lion Dancers” published Feb. 2.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. Happy birthday to Pete Siapno.
April 20, 2024
