Philippine International Arts Festival on February 2009

February 2009 will not only be about love. It will also be about arts.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is making an innovation in the usual National Arts Month (NAM) it has been organizing in the past 18 years. Beginning this year, the NCCA will start calling it the Philippine International Arts Festival.

The talents of Filipino artists will be presented while at the same time promoted to the rest of the world.

Artists from all over the Philippines will join the events of the PIAF. Local governments and arts groups will also take part with this event, thanks to funding from the NCCA. This year’s theme is “Ani ng Sining.” Instead of celebrating only in Manila, numerous events are slated to happen in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

I would love to watch art films and attend events related to Philippine Cinema and film.

We could look forward to the the following highlights of the PIAF. Information taken from the UP Film Institute Yahoogroups.

* The Ani ng Sining Launching. PIAF Ani ng Sining will formally open in three venues: Launching on TV (Sunday noontime variety program); Sining Gising of NBN 4 and Concert at the Park with delayed telecast
in NBN 4. Philippine International Arts Festival will also simultaneously be launched in major sites in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

* PA(ng)LABAS. The project is a composite of a traveling exhibition, lecture-forum, and a film showing which will to examine both the medium of film and the form and style of architecture as they relate to the development of film media, architecture and urban landscape.

The title Pa(ng)labas is doubly coded to encompass both the concepts of projected moving image (palabas) and the exteriority of architecture (panglabas) to establish a sense of place. It will happen from February 9 to 13, 2009 at Cine Adarna, Aldaba Theater, University Theater of the University of the Philippines; from February 16 to 20, 2009, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines; and from February 23 to 27, 2009 at the University of San Carlos in Cebu.

* Walai-Vernacular Architecture of Mindanao. This is an architectural drawing and photography exhibit of the vernacular houses of Mindanao culled from the Walai Pangampong project, complemented with a lecture
series, selected ritual dances and craft works associated with house building and construction, and a model replica of selected indigenous structure. It is slated from February 1 to 6, 2009.

* Sinerehiyon. This is a showcase of nascent cinema from the regions. From the highlands in and around Baguio to the heart of Bicolandia that is Naga City; across the thriving Visayas cities of Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo; and through Mindanao between Cagayan de Oro and Davao, a new generation of artists is telling stories of their own cultures and people in cinematic form. This will be from February 17 to 19 at the CCP.

* Sayaw Pinoy. This touring dance concert brings together different dance forms and features local dance troupes of the host cities and municipalities performing back-to-back with the different professional
dance companies in the country. This will from February 6 to 9 for the Visayas and NCR regions; from February 13 to 16 for Mindanao; and February 20 to 23 for Luzon.

* Tanghal! The 3rd National University Theater Festival. Hosted by Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba, the event will feature university-based theatre groups from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and NCR
in cooperation with the Lusong Luzon Arts and Culture Network. It will happen from February 10 to 14, 2009 at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba.

* Taboan: Philippine Writers Festival. This is will be a celebration of the word—written, painted, sung, or performed—and will assemble writers from all the regions and across generations who will interact
with one another and with their audience on issues pertaining to their craft or the situation of writing in the country, or read from their new works. This will happen from February 11 to 13, 2009 at the UP
Diliman, Ateneo de Manila and Cubao Expo.

* Organik Muzik. This is a series of four concerts showing the metamorphosis of elements of Philippine music from village roots to urban manifestations, from Cordillera traditions to Kadangyan’s world music, from Leyteño siday to Junior Kilat’s reggae Binisaya, from GAMABA Awardee Samaon Sulaiman’s virtuoso kutyapi-playing to the hard-driving neo-ethnic rock of Popong Landero, from flights of Balagtasan to the acid-jazz rants of Lourd de Veyra and Radioactive Sago. Musical innovator Joey Ayala weaves the journey towards a coherent whole. It will happen on February 7, 2009 at SM Baguio; February 14, 2009 at SM Cebu; February 21, 2009 at SM Davao; and February 28, 2009 at SM Mall of Asia.

* Philippine Visual Arts Festival ’09. It will be a convergence of selected various Filipino and International Artists from the different regions of the country. it will feature the talents and performances of the artists and groups in the visual arts whose trainings, competitions and creative expressions it has invested the past year or so

For details, please contact RENE NAPEÑAS, Head of the NCCA-Public Affairs and Information Office (PAIO) at cellphone number 0928-5081057) or VANESSA MARQUEZ, NAM Deputy Festival Director at
cellphone number 0918-6380412, or call (02) 527-5529 / 527-2192 loc. 508, 612 to 615, email at ncca.paio@gmail.com or public_affairs@ncca.gov.ph or log on www.philippineartsfest.com or www.ncca.gov.ph.

Tags: ani ng sining, arts, arts festival, Culture, february 2009, filipino artists, Filipino arts, Film, national arts month, National Commission for Culture and the ARts, NCCA, Philippine arts, Philippine Cinema, Philippine culture, Philippine film, philippine internatinoal arts festival, PIAF, Sayaw Pinoy, Sinerehiyon, The Ani ng Sining Launching, Walai-Vernacular Architecture of Mindanao