LAKBAY SINING
readings on cultural development in the Philippines
Cultural Center of the Philippines and Anvil Publishing
Copyright 2007

From the CCP:

From Abra to Zamboanga, and even beyond, art practitioners and scholars share experiences and problems in their daily task of engaging communities in healthy dialogue through the arts.

Nestor Horfilla talks about how the Davao City-based Kaliwat Theatre Collective, which he heads as executive director, did immersion work with a cultural community and emerged from the grueling process with a play which captured the collaborative nature of the endeavor, and included the audience in the provocative discourse for social transformation. Armand Sta. Ana, artistic director of the acclaimed Barasoain Kalinangan theater group in Malolos City, discusses the history and dynamics of the art and culture program of Bulacan province, widely acknowledged as the most successful cultural initiative of a local government unit in the country and which he has been running for many years now.

Lyn Gamboa, the cultural doyenne of Bacolod City and Silay City, tells about how she and a small band of like-minded residents managed to restore historical landmarks and open them to the public as museums that not only showcase the richness of the historical and cultural legacies of Negros Occidental but also engender a renaissance of artistic vitality among the youth and community spirit among the not-so-young. Agnes Locsin reveals how she “created” the choreographic masterpiece “Encantada”. Joey Ayala narrates the triumphs and travails of his first national circuit tour—when he was just this up-and-coming act from Mindanao.

National Artist Andrea Veneracion shares delightful snippets from her journal, especially about the time she and the Philippine Madrigal Singers found their flight was cancelled and had to take two jeepneys to traverse harrowing mountain passes just to make it to a performance that evening in Cagayan de Oro City.

Then there are the no-holds-barred discussions of cultural workers about the nitty-gritty of the job—funny, self-deprecating, but thoroughly instructive how-to guides by Chinggay Jasareno-Bernardo and Sonny Cristobal (Director and Senior Culture and Arts Officer of the CCP Outreach), Sunnie Noel (Artistic Director of Sining Kambayoka Ensemble in Marawi City), Steven Patrick Fernandez (Artistic Director of the Integrated Performing Arts Guild in Iligan City), and Fra Pao Casurao of the Ibabao Arts Council of Calbayog, who confides how one of his actors was asked to dig his own grave by the military during the martial law years.

Dr. Nicanor G. Tiongson provides an enlightening framework with which to view the post-Marcos cultural landscape of the Philippines, even as CCP President Nestor O. Jardin mulls over the crucial issues of culture and governance.

OOV Bookshelf 2007

SEPTEMBER 2007 FEATURE COMMON DESTINY Filipino American Generations by Juanita Tamayo Lott Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street ni Benjamin Pimentel LAKBAY SINING readings on cultural development in the Philippines by Various Authors The Light Sang As It Left Your Eyes by Eileen R. Tabios Into the Country of Standing Men by Rey Ventura A Woman Pope, Neanderthals & Other Stories by Denis Murphy Salvaged Poems By Emman Lacaba U.G. An Underground Tale The Journey of Edgar Jopson and the First Quarter Storm Generation by Benjamin Pimentel MAY 2007 FEATURE The Bride Anthology by Patria Rivera 25 Chickens and a Pig for the Bride by Evangeline Canonizado Buell Not at the Table, Please! By Quirico S. Samonte, Jr. SCRATCH THE NEWS Filipino Americans In Our Midst by Cristina D.C. Pastor On the Presence of Filipinos in the United States by E. San Juan, Jr.