Around GMA

Article Inside Page

History has taught us that arts and culture flourish even during the most trying times.

And not even a global pandemic could stop the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) from celebrating National Arts Month throughout February and beyond.

The theme for this year is “Alab-sining, Alay-sigla” - alluding to the commission's aim to continuously provide opportunities for artists to exercise their craft and uplift the country's spirit.

NAM aims to conserve, promote and popularize Filipino artistic creations; integrate the arts in the community life; and harness the arts as catalysts for values education.

The celebration is centered on the flagship projects of the NCCA's Subcommission on the Arts' (SCA) seven committees - Architecture and Allied Arts (head: LAr. Zenaida DC. Galingan), Cinema (head: Dr. Rolando B. Tolentino), Dance (head: Dr. Shirley Halili-Cruz), Literary Arts (head: Dr. Julieta C. Mallari), Music (head: Dr. Felipe M. De Leon Jr.), Dramatic Arts (head: Felimon B. Blanco), and Visual Arts (head: Geraldine B. Araneta).

Architecture and Allied Arts

Planning and design professionals, academicians, students, and the public are invited to participate in a talk highlighting the changing interior and exterior spaces as we adapt to the quarantine lifestyle.

SPACE|D: Multi-modal Discourse on Reshaping the Built Environment for the New Normal is a blended event composed of webinars with workshops and roundtables discussions, virtual exhibitions, and competition that will take place both online and in the public from February to April.

Cinema

The 13th installment of Cinema Rehiyon is bound to be the biggest in terms of reach as it takes the online route.

Happening from March 26 to 30, 2021, the festival will feature films coming from different regions, stressing the country's rich cultural diversity.

The festival will also carry films created by and for women and the LGBTQIA+ community.

There will also be filmmaking webinars and forums tackling issues in the local cinema, particularly the independent scene.

Two compilation films, Eksena 1 and 2 will make their debut.

Eksena is a collaboration between 16 filmmakers from all over the country, detailing exploring big ideas and experiences in confined spaces amidst the pandemic.

Dance

Sayaw Pinoy - the longest-running dance concert program for NAM - puts the spotlight on various dance forms including folk dance, traditional dance, contemporary dance, neoclassical dance, ballet, modern dance, and hip-hop.

The program usually attracts around 65,000 audiences across all performances. The current situation, however, had forced Sayaw Pinoy to take its act online. What remains consistent though is the program featuring different dance groups from all over the country.

Literary Arts

The program Reading the Regions 2: An Anthology and A Literary Conference on Philippine Folk and Oral Traditions will take place on March 30 to 31 via Zoom and Facebook live streaming.

It will carry on with the discussions and discourses stemming from the first installment of the Reading the Regions project, which began with an anthology of essays on teaching literature and a literary conference that delved into literature, cinema, and art from the different regions.

The commission hopes that the talks will emphasize the value of folk and oral traditions in the country.

Acclaimed anthropologist and folklorist E. Arsenio Manuel and Damiana L. Eugenio, known as the "Father of Modern Research on Philippine Folklore" and "Mother of Philippine Folklore," respectively, will be recognized at the event.

Plus, the program will serve as the stage for the launching of new anthologies, including the pandemic-centered "Agwat-Hilom" and "Ubod," written by up and coming artists.

Music

The NCCA's National Committee on Music has partnered with the St. Paul University Manila for an online concert series that highlight the musical cultures of the country - from the indigenous to the contemporary, to progressive music - in a program dubbed Musikapuluan Pintigan: Serye ng Konsiyerto para sa Buwan ng Sining.

The music of eight living subcultures will be featured into four online concerts: Kultura ng Padidiwata, Kultura ng Pag-uuma, Kultura ng Pag-uukir, Kultura ng Pamamanata, Kultura ng Pananahan, Kultura ng Paglilining, Kultura ng Pag-aaliw, Kultura ng Pagtutol, and Kultura ng Pagkabansa

Dramatic Arts

Now on its fourth year, Tampok, the flagship program of the NCDA for National Arts Month 2021, will roll out TAMPOK 2021: E-Turo Dula and e-Pasundayag.

TAMPOK 4 is comprised of e-Turo Dula and e-Pasundayag. The former is a program that shall offer 5 specialized online theater courses of 18-hours each course, that will run for 6 weeks, 3 hours per week combining synchronous (via Zoom) and asynchronous sessions.

The latter, meanwhile, is a celebration of the rich legacy of theater-making in the country. It will premiere video documentaries and digital presentations that will be followed by a talkback from each production's key artistic team leaders.

Visual Arts

The program Bagong Biswal is all about finding a new visual language brought about by circumstances that Filipino artists find themselves in during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Times have changed, and artists are adapting to the new normal in terms of modes of production and expression while staying true to their individual concerns.

The program will feature various video documentation contributed by artists nationwide, which the NCVA will screen and select.

The video materials will then be gathered and organized into categories that represent the wider visual arts spectrum (i.e., painting, sculpture, illustration, graphic art, fine art photography, performance art, etc.).

Bagong Biswal will be staged through the NCVA Facebook Page, with live discussions by resource persons and guests broadcast via Zoom.

For more details about the programs including schedules for this year's National Arts Months, visit the NCCA's official website.