PERFORMANCES, exhibits, lectures, screenings, workshops and other activities will be held all over the country.

This February will be filled with shows and performances, exhibits, workshops, lectures and other activities as the main government agency for arts and culture, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), holds Ani ng Sining: Philippine Arts Festival in celebration of the National Arts Month (NAM).

Ani ng Sining, spearheaded by NCCA’s Subcommission on the Arts (SCA), emphasizes the richness of artistic endeavors in the Philippines and the passion of Filipino artists and cultural workers. The month-long fete will offer a wide array of events and activities aimed at celebrating a bountiful harvest of Philippine arts as well as inspiring Filipinos to immerse in and appreciate the diversity of cultural expressions, insights and creativity.

Ani ng Sining will be composed of the flagship projects of SCA’s seven national committees —Architecture, Cinema, Dance, Literary Arts, Music, Dramatic Arts and Visual Arts — which will be held in different venues all over the country.

To drum up a nationwide excitement for NAM, NCCA planned opening ceremonies in the National Capital Region (NCR), Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. For NCR, Lucky Chinatown Mall in Binondo, Manila will host the opening on 3 February, while in Luzon, it will be in the municipality of Bagac in Bataan on 11 February. Opening ceremonies will also be held in Bago City, Negros Occidental on 1 February, for the Visayas, and Koronadal City, South Cotabato on 15 February, for Mindanao.

For the whole of February, the flagship events will be held in numerous venues.

The National Committee on Architecture and Allied Arts, headed by Rogelio D. Caringal, will present “Loob at Labas,” a series of exhibits, fora and lectures which will travel around the country to enhance appreciation and awareness on Philippine architecture and to uplift lives in the community through projects related to architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and environmental planning.

“Labas at Labas” will go to Angeles City, Pampanga, from 22 to 28 February; Batangas City and Lipa City, Batangas, from 1 to 7 March; Bacolod City from 22 to 28 March; Dumaguete City from 8 to 14 March; and Davao City from 15 to 21 March.

Headed by Teddy Co, the National Committee on Cinema will hold the eleventh installment of Cinema Rehiyon Film Festival, a non-competition film festival which highlights some of the best works in the regions. It will happen from 23 February to 1 March in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. The festival has been raising awareness on the efforts on and progress of filmmaking in the different regions, and providing platform for these films, most of which in local languages and showing culturally-rooted narratives, to be exhibited and appreciated by a wider audience. Over the years, Cinema Rehiyon has been held in different parts of the country.

Hosted by Foundation University together with the local government, Cinema Rehiyon XI (CRXI) has the theme “Elevating the Value of Regional Cinema,” focusing more on the celebration and coming together of the Philippine filmmakers and the Filipino stories from various regions.

Aside from screenings of short and full-length films, CRXI will also feature talks and lectures tackling the centennial year of Philippine cinema, the beginning of Philippine cinema, regional cinemas and Dumaguete filmmakers’ contributions to national cinema.

A pitching activity/session was a new event held in the last Cinema Rehiyon X. It was said to inspire many filmmakers to dream big and do better in their craft and is thus making a return.

An exhibit at the main atrium of Robinsons will feature Eddie Romero, National Artist for Cinema, who hailed from Dumaguete City.

New components of CRXI aim to share how it really feels to be in Dumaguete including “chillax” screenings of selected films in various locations in city and nearby towns.

The National Committee on Dance, headed by Shirley Halili-Cruz, will once again amaze the public with the month-long traveling dance concert series “Sayaw Pinoy” in different parts of the country. The tour brings together different dance forms such as classical ballet, folk dance, contemporary and modern dance as the country’s top dance companies perform with local troupes of host cities and municipalities. It aims to showcase the colorful tradition of dances and movements in the country and reach out to the grassroots to discover new talents as well as connect to more Filipino artists.

Shows are scheduled in Metro Manila schools and malls including Siena College in Quezon City, Rizal National High School in Pasig, Adamson University, Centro Escolar University, University of the East, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Miriam College, SM Mall of Asia, SM South Mall, SM City North EDSA, SM City Marikina, Centris EDSA and SM Sucat. There will also be weekly shows at the Rizal Park in Manila.

Around Negros Island, there will performances in Talisay, Bago City, Kabankalan City, Mabinay, Silay City, Sagay City and Bacolod City. Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, Laguna and Cavite will be hosting some shows while Zamboanga City, Pagadian City and Ozamiz City comprise the Mindanao leg.

THE Philippine Visual Arts Festival will highlight the works of visual artists around the country as well as share their craft. Dramatic arts

The National Committee on Dramatic Arts, headed by Rossana Q. Palm, will hold Tampok: Regional Theater Conference, Festival and Congress to celebrate and document the creative, intellectual and praxiological contributions to theater of individuals and groups in the region and how these have impacted the life of the community and various sectors in the region.

The conference will strive to reflect the creative and thought processes of theater praxis, reflecting on the best practices and challenges of the stakeholders. The festival will feature selected performances related to the different curricula utilized in the various settings. The Tampok Congress will serve as venue for setting the national theater agenda, focusing on orientation, artistry and organizational themes.

Tampok will be held from 27 February to 1 March in Malabon City; from 26 February to 1 March at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna; from 28 February to 2 March in Bohol; and from 2 to 4 March in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental.

The National Committee on Literary Arts, headed by Dr. Hope S. Yu, will hold Namnamin, a convergence of food and literature, featuring talks on food cultures as well as food demos and tasting. It will be held in the province of Pampanga, considered by many as the country’s culinary capital. Talks will be held from 25 to 27 February at The Orchid Gardens, San Fernando City, with a food trip on 27 February in Angeles City.

Talks will include topics such as food security and language of agriculture in Antique by Dr. Genevieve L. Asenjo; the concept of shortages and harvest of fishers of Bulacan by Maricristh Magaling; food technology in time of calamity by Gil Dulon; seafood by Dr. John Iremil E. Teodoro; Maguindanao kakanin by Mubarak Tahir; unusual food items by Lualhati Abreu; bunaki, Bukidnon’s steamed tamales by Shara Dionaldo; food as an ingredient in creative writing by Lenin Carlos Mirasol; writing food into poetry by Jhoanna Cruz; depiction of food in selected poems by Soliman Santos; theorizing the Filipino identity in food, food culture of Filipinos and the gustatory template of the Filipino by Ige Ramos; storytelling and traditional palm starch extraction by John Bengan, Andrea Malaya Ragrario and Myfel Paluga; the intersections of food and art by Jesus Villafuerte; a book on local cuisine, Rekado Y Recuerdo, by Victor Dennis T. Nierva and Maria Leny E. Felix.

Additionally, there will be cooking demo and discussion on pancit Molo by Dr. Lilia S. Teves; demonstration on millet rice and balut by Dr. Joyce Arriola; a soil painting exhibit; and recital and tigsik performance on food by Aida B. Cirujales.

The National Committee on Music, headed by Mauricia D. Borromeo, will hold Musikapuluan: Music of the Philippine Islands, a music festival with performances, lectures and workshops that will celebrate our local musics. It will be held in different venues — Baguio City on 8 February, featuring northern Luzon indigenous music; Catbalogan City, Samar, on 15 February, featuring the folk song called ismayling; and Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, on 23 February, featuring rondalla music.

The National Committee on Visual Arts, headed by Edgar Talusan Fernandez, will mount the Philippine Visual Arts Festival in Cagayan de Oro City from 4 to 7 February. It will include workshops, art talks, exhibits and numerous activities that will highlight the works of visual artists around the country.

The NCCA also honors artists who have earned international awards and accolades during the past year with the Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honors) Awards. Now on its eleventh year, Ani ng Dangal has become a culminating event of NCCA’s NAM celebration.

This year, 52 individuals, groups and works in different fields will be recognized. In the field of architecture and allied arts, there will be three awardees, Earl Patrick Forlales, Kenneth Cobonpue and Noriel Estipular, while there are also three awardees in the broadcast arts, ABS-CBN 2 for “‘Di Ka Pasisiil,” Jessica Soho (GMA Network) and Reel Time (GMA Network).

Clem Marnel Burgos will be honored in field of dramatic arts and Lawrence Ypil in the literary arts. There are four awardees in dance Halili Cruz Dance Company, Kenyo Street Family Poveda Enciende and Sidlakan Dance Company.

Ten visual artists will be honored: Anthony Austria, Danny Victoriano, Donell Gumiran, Edwin S. Loyola, Jesus Ramos Tejada, Jeuz Sumangil, Joey C. Ramos, Jophel Botero Ybiosa, Maria Angelica Tejada and Mario Cardenas.

Thirteen will be awarded in the field of music: Imusicapella, Micah Jane Baybay, Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra, University of the East Chorale, Conchords, Ian Gabriel Corpuz, Alyssa Trisha Garcia, Kammerchor Manila, Rag-o Duo, Astrafellas, Jay Kent, Cipriano de Guzman and the UP Singing Ambassadors.

The field of cinema has the most awardees, owing to the fact that there are numerous films festivals around the world and there is robust Philippine participation. They are Allen Dizon, Ang Panahon ng Halimaw (Season of Devil), Angellie Nicole Sanoy, Arjanmar Hernandez Rebeta, Bagahe, Call Her Ganda, Christian Apolinario, Christian Bables, Employee of the Month, Last Order, Mikhail Red, Nabubulok, Ngiti ni Nazareno (Smile of the Nazarene), Rhiza Ann Cenen Simbulan, Shireen Seno, Steven Ian Veneracion and Timothy Castillo.

The annual celebration of National Arts Month started with the signing of Presidential Proclamation 683, in 1991, declaring February as National Arts Month. Over the years, NCCA, working with private and government agencies, has been organizing events and activities to highlight the Philippine arts. It hopes to reach thousands of people with these different projects and let them be touched by the light and grace of the arts.