Philippine Arts Festival Ani ng Sining 'Yaman ng lahi' 2007

By Prof. Felipe De Leon, Jr.
Chair, Sub-commission on the Arts
NCCA

The arts provide the most lucid mirrors of who we are as a people, capturing the widest diversity and most profound depths of the Filipino creative spirit. Excellence in the arts is a powerful magnet around which national unity may evolve.

Promoting a Filipino perspective in the arts, then, is the basis for Ani ng Sining: Yaman ng Lahi, Philippine Arts Festival 2007. This perspective builds on our strengths as a people, works for the good of the nation as a whole, and promotes pride, commitment, and excellence.

Pride in being Filipino leads to commitment to the nation, and commitment to the nation always brings about excellence or great achievement. The deepest meaning of pride in being Filipino is pride in our cultural identity, whether it is identity shared across the country such as our high relational tendency or that of a cultural community, e.g., Tboli ikat weaving or San Fernando giant Christmas lanterns. It is finally our cultural identity that will harness national competitiveness, economic or otherwise, in the global arena; our cultural identity that will anchor national development.

In traditional Filipino (and Asian cultures), an integral philosophy of life ensures that the deepest strivings of the human spirit are given expression. People from all walks of life are expected to engage in artistic creation and performance. A farmer may at the same time be an expert puppeteer, a medicine man the best epic chanter, and a barber an outstanding lute performer.

Ani ng Sining: Yaman ng Lahi invites all of us to renew our ties with art and in so doing, enrich, celebrate and honor our proud heritage and identity.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) leads the nation in a month-long celebration of Filipino artistry dubbed "Ani ng Sining: Yaman ng Lahi, Philippine Arts Festival 2007." Formerly called the National Arts Month, the Philippine Arts Festival (PAF) builds on our strengths as a people, works for the good of the nation as a whole, and promotes pride, commitment, and excellence.

The Festival will be launched at NCCA and the Intramuros Administration, and at four ceremonial centers all over the country: Malolos, Bulacan (Luzon), Cebu City (Visayas) and Cagayan De Oro (Mindanao), and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (NCR) on February 4.

The following activities have been lined up the entire month of February in NCR: Pistahan sa NCR, a gathering of art events in selected cities in NCR: Caloocan City, Marikina City, Teatro (Valenzuela City), Pasig City, Muntinlupa City and Las Piñas City; Ugnayan sa Intramuros, a fest of performances from schools within Intramuros; and Ani ng Sining at NCCA, a partnership with the IA and other cultural agencies featuring ehxibiitons, film showings, dance and music performances. Performances and exhibits will also be staged in different government offices such as the Malacañang, the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Supreme Court.

As in the previous years, PAF 2007 will bring together the efforts of the seven national art committees of the NCCA. The Committee on Literary Arts will stage "Pagpupugay sa mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining sa Literatura": Ang Kuwento sa Pilipinas ni Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, Feb. 5, Lipa, Batangas; Poetry in the Philippines, Dr. Edith Tiempo, Feb. 10, Cebu City;

Essay in the Philippines Dr. Alejandro Roces, Feb. 17, Iligan City: Fiction in the Philippines Mr. Francisco Sionil Jose, Feb. 24, Pangasinan; and Ang Tula sa Pilipinas, Dekano Virgilio Almario, Feb. 24, Angeles City.

"Contesting Traditions- WEB Sining: Digital Art Competition 2007" is the offering of the Committee on Visual Arts. It has three categories: Still, Animated and Software Art. As a nationwide competition, websining continues to promote positive discussion on key national issues through a series of KURO Satellite Forums. Visit the WebSining website for dates and venues of KURO satellites in your region.

An exhibition at the Museum of the Filipino People, National Museum, "Building Modernity: A Century of Architecture and Allied Designs in the Philippines" which will feature architectural landmarks of modernity as emblematic of larger tendencies, movements, and directions that have shaped the 20th century architectural culture in the Philippines is the project of the Committee on Architecture and Allied Arts.

Pelikusina (Cinema Paraiso 4), a confluence of film, photography and video exhibitions is the piece of the Committee on Cinema. It is divided into the following components: Cine Pares, Foto Binalot, Sining Bidyo-ke and Sining Sine.

The Committee on Dance continues Sayaw Pinoy, a touring national dance concert of folk, modern, ballet and contemporary dance forms.

"Mga Awiting Bayan Para sa Korong Pilipino: A Choral Writing Competition" is the undertaking of the Committee on Music. It is a search for new and unpublished choral settings of Philippine folk songs or original compositions for mixed (male & female) adult choir from various parts of the Philippines in the local languages. Fifteen outstanding choral settings of songs from different parts of the country will be selected for publication in an anthology.

University-based theater groups will showcase their productions in "TANGHAL! The 1st National Universities Theatre Festival" of the Committee on Dramatic Arts. The event will be hosted by TEATROKON-Western Visayas Theatre Network, to be held at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City. The play festival will include an interactive forum and exhibit.

This year, outstanding arts venues will also be given the Sentro ng Sining Award. These venues may be for any cultural activity, such as performances and exhibitions. Intended to encourage local government units to provide venues for their cultural events and encourage local artists and the public to engage in creative activities. Awarding of the winners will be done in an appropriate event within the celebration of the Philippine Arts Festival.

PAF has also given individual grants to the following 28 provinces to initiate activities in their own locales: Batanes, Baguio, Lingayen, Tuguegarao city, Tarlac, Balanga City, Rodriguez, Laguna, Romblon, Calapan City, Masbate and Marikina, Camarines Sur (Luzon); Negros Occidental, Capiz city, Calbayog (Samar), Tagbilaran City, Siquijor and Maasin (Visayas); and Koronadal City, Zamboanga Del Sur, Musuan, Camiguin, Davao Oriental, Tagum, Saranggani, Jolo, Agusan Del Sur and Marawi City (Mindanao).

On February 25, PAF 2007 will close with a "family art day" of performances, an art sale, a thanksgiving ritual, among others at the Raha Sulayman Theater, Fort Santiago.