Arts & Culture (11/18/20)
Ballet Philippines presents Sarong Banggi
AS PART of Philippine Classics Reimagined, Ballet Philippines (BP) presents the ballet Sarong Banggi on its BP OnStream platform. Sarong Bangi is a Ballet Philippines 46th season production featuring music by National Artist Ryan Cayabyab.
Bayang Barrios in episode 5 of Muni-Muni
THE FILIPINAS Heritage Library and the OPM Archive present MUNI-MUNI STORIES: A Podcast on Filipino Music Episode 5: “Bayang Barrios | Malayo Man, Malapit Din.” The podcast will be released on Nov. 20, 6 p.m., on Spotify. In the episode, Bayang Barrios calls up memories that underpin two songs. Lodged in the featured song “Malayo Man, Malapit Din” is the longing for a friend overseas. The heart’s homeland doubles as she turns to “Katribo Ko,” dwelling on her Manobo roots in Agusan del Sur. As a songwriter, Barrios lends her thoughts on the legacy of the Metropop and PhilPop competitions, the former she won in 2003. More importantly, this episode highlights the space that indigenous people create through music, passing on their own anthems. For updates regarding the episode upload schedules, visit Filipinas Heritage Library and the OPM (Original Pilipino Music) Archive.
Webinar, workshop on home schooling, art
AS PART of the ongoing Art Express: CCP Children’s Biennale, the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Arts Education Department will be hosting a webinar on Nov. 20, 4 p.m., with Prof. Katherine Claudette A. Tandoc, also known as Teacher Claude, who will share insights on how parents can overcome the challenges of the new educational set-up and how children can get most out of it. The webinar will be live streamed via the Batang Sining and CCP Facebook pages. Before the webinar, there will be an Arts and Parents workshop, facilitated by Nikki Junia, on the same day, at 3 p.m., streaming live at the Batang Sining and CCP Facebook pages. Ms. Junia will discuss parenting and the role of arts in the holistic development of children. Parents will get the chance to ask questions on how to develop art appreciation among children and how to engage them in artmaking. The workshop and the webinar are parts of the CCP Children’s Biennale, ongoing until Nov. 29. For more information, visit the CCP website www.culturalcenter.gov.ph and follow the CCP and Batang Sining Facebook pages.
Portfolio sale to support artists
Art enthusiasts Giorgio Guglielmino and Hugo Bunzl in partnership with The Drawing Room, launched an art project celebrating Filipino talent. They produced a portfolio titled “2020” containing 10 original photographs, each numbered and signed, by 10 of the most talented artists/photographers in the Philippines. The portfolio, in an edition of 33 copies, will be sold through the Drawing Room Gallery and with the sales, five Filipino artists will receive each one a grant of P300,000. The five awardees will be chosen by an independent panel among the names that each artist participating in the project will submit. With the collaboration of Angel Velasco Shaw and the facilities of Pioneer Studios for the production, the works in the portfolio tackle the struggles Filipinos are facing during the current health crisis and represent an insight on the works of the following participating artists: At Maculangan, Gina Osterloh, Kawayan de Guia, Kiri Dalena, Manny Montelibano, Neal Oshima, Paul Pfeiffer, Poklong Anading, Wawi Navarroza, and Yason Banal. For more information about the exhibition project, please e-mail ailene@a-listconsulting.com.
Shelter Fund launches a new print sale called Print Jam 2020.
SILVER, the printing arm of Shutterspace Studios will be holding one of the largest photographs and art sales this month. The Shelter Fund initiative that started during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) period of May and June provided much-needed assistance to over 300 local artists and photographers through selling their works online. As the effects of the pandemic have extended beyond the ECQ, Shelter Fund is once again mobilizing by launching Print Jam 2020. Print Jam 2020 is featuring over 500 new, original, and signed artworks for sale from 200 local artists, illustrators, and photographers. All prints are produced using archival-grade materials and processes with options for framing as well. With an improved website, all print orders including framing can be conveniently made with secure payments via PayPal at www.shelterfund.ph. Print Jam 2020 is ongoing until Nov. 20. Follow them on Instagram: @shelterfundph.
Webinar on culture, art in the pandemic
INDUSTRY experts will answer the question “What becomes of the Filipino artists and the industry in a world without physical spaces of community?” in a webinar entitled Now What? Conversations on Arts and Culture. The talk is hosted by Benilde Arts Management (BeAM) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts (SDA). Speakers are Geraldine Araneta, the co-founder of Art Fair Philippines and Art in the Park, Head of the Visual Arts Committee of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and academic adviser and former chairperson of Benilde Arts Management Program; Sandra Palomar-Quan, an arts management instructor at the SDA and fine arts teacher at the Foundation University in Negros Oriental; and marketing expert Bennet Dychangco, a resource person for marketing, branding and business pitching at the Philippine Trade Training Center, and contributing writer in the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art. The webinar will be moderated by Arts Management Program Chairperson Alain Zedrick Camiling. They will discuss the impact of the pandemic in museums, theaters, performance venues and other cultural and creative hubs that have closed their doors since early this year. They will also tackle how the artists thrive despite the restrictions on public events and live theater productions through alternative and innovative creative platforms. They aim to equip the participants with the knowledge on marketing to boost their artistic careers in this time of crisis. Now What? Conversations on Arts and Culture will be conducted via Zoom on Nov. 21 and 22, 2 to 4:20 p.m. Admission is P50. Interested participants may register through this link: bit.ly/BeAMNWHT. For inquiries, visit the Program’s official Facebook account @BenildeArtsManagement or e-mail beam@benilde.edu.ph.
11th Kutitap for Indigenous Children goes online
IN CELEBRATION of the 2020 National Children’s Month and National Indigenous Peoples’ Month, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) through its Cultural Exchange Department, in partnership with the Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG) and Sinukwan Kapampangan Training Center for the Arts, will hold the 11th Kutitap: Isang Piging ng Kabataang Makasining online from Nov. 23-28. Kutitap aims to instill among Filipino children and youth a deep sense of understanding, appreciation and pride for Philippine arts, indigenous culture, as well as to promote creativity and positive social values. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the project has migrated online and will have for its theme “Mga Batang Makasining Para sa Isang Malusog at Malayang Kinabukasan” (Creative Children for a Healthy, Independent and Progressive Future). In line with this theme, the program was specially designed to include sessions on indigenous food, games, folktales, music, dance, herbal medicine, film, and crafts. This year’s participants will be children ages 7-12 years old from the following 12 cultural communities: Mindanao — Maguindanao, Tawi Tawi and Davao Oriental; Visayas — Ati of Iloilo, Antique & Aklan; Luzon — Nueva Vizcaya, Pampanga, Laguna & National Capital Region — Quezon City, Manila and Marikina. For more information, check the CCP Cultural Exchange Department FB account and/or e-mail at ccp.ced2014@gmail.com
Cultural Thursdays returns
THE FRENCH Embassy and the Alliance Francaise de Manille bring back Les Jeudis Culturels, or Cultural Thursdays, with a virtual French classical music concert, Apres un reve (After a Dream) featuring cellist Kyongmin Nam and pianist Dingdong Fiel. They will perform works by French masters including Gabriel Faure, Claude Debussy, and Claude Bolling. The concert can be viewed for free on Nov. 26, 8 p.m., through the embassy’s Facebook page @frenchembassyph. A big part of French culture is its cuisine, so in connection with the concert, the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry and The Tasting Club will be offering a “Dinner for a Cause,” a virtual degustation, prior to the concert at 7 p.m. A traditional French pairing menu has been developed by The Tasting Club, featuring beef burgundy, roast potatoes and carrots, chocolate mousse verrine, paired with red wine from Burgundy (AOC Santenay) which will be delivered to the participant’s doorstep for P1,200 (delivery fee not included). Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Life Project 4 Youth (LP4Y), a French-Filipino NGO dedicated to the professional and social integration of young adults living in extreme poverty. Order the meal and sign up for the virtual degustation through this link: https://forms.gle/rRat2UrUnqPu9cB59.
Webinar tackles bayanihan and mutual support
THE CURATORS of the Philippine exhibition “Structures of Mutual Support” and experts in various disciplines will examine bayanihan and other iterations of mutual support practices in a webinar presented by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Office of Deputy Speaker and Congresswoman Loren Legarda through the Philippine Arts in Venice Biennale — PAVB (PAVB), and in partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. “Structures of Mutual Support” is the Philippine Pavilion exhibition at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale. The featured speakers are Sudarshan Khadka, Jr. and Alexander Eriksson Furunes, curators of the Philippine Pavilion of the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale; Nicole Curato, sociologist and associate professor for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra; Geog Bankoff, historical geographer, global and environmental historian, and disaster risk reduction specialist at the University of Hull; and, Leika Aruga, human rights law and gender equality specialist of the University of Utrecht. It will be moderated by architect Emmanuel Manny Miñana. It will be held live on Zoom and Facebook on Nov. 26, 4-6 p.m. Register at bit.ly/SOMSWebinar.
Sa Pagbabasa, Hindi ka Nag-iisa e-book launch
THE CULTURAL Center of the Philippines (CCP) through its Intertextual Division launches the e-book Sa Pababasa, Hindi Ka Nag-iisa on Nov. 27, 4 p.m., via the CCP and CCP Intertextual Division’s Facebook pages as part of the celebration of the CCP Children’s Biennale. The e-book contains a collection of children’s books, artworks for children, comics, and other artistic and literary works about health, COVID-19, and the value of cooperation created by Filipino writers, illustrators, and children from different regions of the country. In addition to the e-book launch, there will be a storytelling session of “Masama Bang Humiling Ng Isa Pang Araw?” a story written and illustrated by Oliver V. Arevalo of Olongapo City. His story is part of #KuwentongKalusugan, a project of the Department of Education’s Bureau of Learning Resources. Mr. Arevalo won the National Competition on Storybook Writing for his story “Di Biro.” The e-book will be offered to the general public for free. For more information, visit the CCP website www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.
Neo-Realist art, antiques at León Gallery’s auction
LEÓN Gallery’s yearend The Kingly Treasures Auction 2020 features masterpieces of Philippine fine art, antiques, and ephemera on Nov. 28, starting at 2 p.m. at Eurovilla 1, Legaspi corner Rufino Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati City. The e-catalogue and all the lots for auction can be viewed at https://en.calameo.com/read/00465630533a3ffe2e162. Top-billing the 155 lots are two works by National Artist H R Ocampo: Tempo Rubato (oil on canvas, 1949) and Homage to A Lady (oil on canvas, 1967). Other works from the 13 Moderns and the pioneers of Philippine Neo-Realism are Miners (oil on wood, 1979) by National Artist Cesar Legaspi; New York (oil on panel, 1951) by filmmaker-artist Ramon Estella; and, First Homage to Salvia (oil on canvas, 1954) by Victor Oteyza. The preview of The Kingly Treasures Auction 2020 runs from Nov. 21 to 27, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.leon-gallery.com, call 8856-2781 or e-mail info@leon-gallery.com.
Children’s book on saving whales to be launched
JANICE Lao-Noche, a dual environmental scientist and development economist, and her 10-year-old daughter, Esther, have written a book, Sparky & Benny’s Big Home Mystery, about climate change as seen through the eyes of two whale children who are finding out they are losing their homes. It is a personal story for children, parents and educators to understand what climate change is all about, and why it is personal to everyone. Their book is also about a story of hope — providing children a template on how they can help make a real difference with climate change. The book is published by US-based Wise Ink. The book will be launched on Nov. 29, 9 a.m. in the Philippines (Nov. 28 in the US, 8 p.m. EST/ 5 p.m. PST), with the “Sparky and Benny Book Launch Party.” To join the book launch and #HelpSparkyAndBenny Save the Seas with Janice and Esther Lao Noche, RSVP at bit.ly/sparkybennyparty. To preview the book, visit its Amazon page at bit.ly/sparkybenny. For more information, visit www.janicelao.com.