Arts&Culture (04/26/23)

Museum Foundation holds tour of Batangas

THE MUSEUM Foundation of the Philippines has organized Batangas and Beyond!, a tour that explores the heritage and history of the province, and includes visiting the capital, Batangas City, and neighboring towns of San Jose and Ibaan. The tour will be held on May 6, with a meet up time of 7:30 a.m. at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila. The fee of P4,500 per head includes transfers, meals and a special tour program. There will be a walking tour of Batangas City’s old bayan which includes visiting the Museo Puntong Batangan, Plaza Mabini, and the 16th century Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. The tour includes special access to the basilica’s sacristy to view its collection of religious antiquities including the original 18th century silver altar. There will be an al fresco lunch of Batangas specialties at the private Acosta-Pastor residence, a well preserved bahay-na-bato dating to 1883. The tour includes a visit to a traditional women’s weaving community cooperative in the town Ibaan, and a merienda (snack) and guided tour at Vilela’s, a family-run integrated farm and agricultural facility. This tour is supported by the Batangas City Cultural Affairs Committee and Tourism Office. For inquiries and reservations, contact Tanya Pico at executive director@museumfoundationph.org, or call, text, or Viber 0918-901-7500.

New dates added to Ang Huling El Bimbo the Musical

ANG HULING El Bimbo the Musical returned to the Newport Performing Arts Theater last weekend, featuring a new cast, fresh choreography, production, and the iconic songs of the Eraserheads. The show has performances every Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and matinee performances every Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. this April, with new show dates recently added in May to accommodate more theatergoers. Presented by Newport World Resorts’ production outfit Full House Theater Company, Ang Huling El Bimbo tells the tale of four friends Anthony, Emman, Joy, and Hector in the past and present. Tickets are now available at Newport World Resorts Box Office, TicketWorld, and SM Tickets outlets with prices ranging from P1,079 to P3,776. It is recommended for audiences aged 13 years old and above. For more information on Ang Huling El Bimbo the Musical and its show schedule, visit www.newportworldresorts.com and follow @newportworldresorts and @fullhousetheater on Facebook and Instagram, @nwresorts on Twitter.

Manobo artist holds puppetry workshops

YOUNG actors and actresses from the different parts of Mindanao will gather to learn the tradition and rich heritage of masks and puppetry in the Philippines and beyond on May 1. Entitled Papet, Papet… Pang Bata’t Matanda?, the free lecture-workshop by award-winning Manobo artist Carlito Camahalan Amalla was organized by the Kamayoka Center through the Sining Kambayoka Ensemble (SKE). It is the official folk theater company of Mindanao State University in Marawi. The event is in celebration of the group’s golden anniversary in 2024. The talk is likewise in preparation for the youth’s performances under the Cultural Exchange Program of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Mr. Amalla, who currently teaches under the Design Foundation of the School of Arts, Culture, and Performance (SACP) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, will walk the participants into the vibrant history and culture of masks and puppetry across the world. He will provide an overview of its unique characteristics that makes it distinct from popular counterparts, such as Wayang Golek, a Sundanese puppet art from West Java, Indonesia. Mr. Amalla will likewise discuss its role in storytelling and conveying messages, and the relevance of the art in modern society. He will guide the young artists on how to create their own puppets. The lecture-workshop will conclude with a recital featuring the finished outputs of the participants. Papet, Papet… Pang Bata’t Matanda? will be held at the Mindanao State University, Marawi City.

Call for applications to VLF 18 Writing Fellowship

The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) through the Artist Training Division, is now accepting applications for the Virgin Labfest (VLF) 18 Writing Fellowship Program. Deadline for application is on or before May 16. The VLF 18 Writing Fellowship Program is a two-week mentorship program on the study and practice of dramatic writing for the stage. The fellows will take part in lectures, discussions, and workshops on playwriting and script critiquing. They will also be given tickets to this year’s festival plays, as well as the opportunity to participate in the talkback and interaction with known playwrights and directors. This year, the VLF Writing Fellowship Program will be held from June 13 to 25, onsite at the CCP and other alternative venues, and will culminate with a staged reading of the fellows’ works on June 25, at the CCP. Interested applicants should be a college student or a young professional, 29 years old or below. The applicant should not have any play produced by a professional theater company nor any play published in a literary journal. They must not have won in any national or international playwriting/screenwriting competition. Applications should include: duly accomplished and signed Application Form (download from: https://tinyurl.com/VLF18WFPAppForm), and a sample of their stage plays, full or excerpts. The announcement of accepted applicants is on May 30. There is a registration fee of P2,500. Fellows must be present for the entire duration of the program, rehearsals and performance for the Culminating Showcase. The Virgin Labfest, an annual festival of unpublished, unstaged, untried and untested works of playwrights, directors and actors. For inquiries on the Virgin Labfest 18 Writing Fellowship Program, contact the CCP Artist Training Division via phone at 8832-1125 local 1605 (look for Kris Reyno) or via e-mail at artist.training@culturalcenter.gov.ph.

MO_Space opens 2 exhibits

MO_SPACE presents Lou Lim’s exhibit, “Hands Flower,” at the Main Gallery, and Issay Rodriguez’ “Gathering, Collecting, Ongoingness at Gallery 2 on April 29. Both exhibits will run until May 28. Contemporary artist Lou Lim manipulates liquid qualities of acrylic paint by funneling them down onto the canvas, spilling on the surface area of the immaculate surface, and allowing the drip to flow on all four corners. Meanwhile, the foundation of Issay Rodriguez’s long-term research on the life of bees is at the core of “Gathering, Collecting, Ongoingness,” which features works that introduce the audience to the fundamentals of the artist’s interest in understanding and assessing the inter-specie relations between humans and bees. A series of photographs capturing recent encounters with the Philippine native stingless bees are at the center of this exhibition as Rodriguez aligns the activities of working as an artist to that of bees: forage (gathering), pollinate (collecting or exchanging), and continue doing so as a matter of designation by life’s natural design. These similarities propel Ms. Rodriguez to pursue and engage the studies of bees in her practice as vessels that facilitate “ongoingness” as a relationship between the two. MO_Space is at the 3rd level of MOs Design, B2 Bonifacio High Street, 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. The gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Silverlens opens Santiago Bose exhibit

SILVERLENS has opened the exhibit “SANTIAGO BOSE, Spirited Traces, Part of the series conceived by Dr. Patrick Flores in 2019”. The exhibit is ongoing until May 20. The Santiago Bose exhibition project was conceived to let the body of work of the artist unfold incrementally but also decisively across three iterations. This mode of presenting the decades-long labor of Mr. Bose has given the curator the chance to parse his artistic practice into episodes and turning points, into shifts over time or persistent fascinations through and through. In other words, the oeuvre has played out like a series or relay and has not been unveiled like a monolith or foisted on an audience as a spectacle. In 2024, Silverlens will be publishing a book on Santiago Bose written by Dr. Patrick Flores that will delve into the life and practice of the artist to culminate this series of exhibitions. Silverlens is at 2263 Don Chino Roces Ave. Ext., Makati. It is open Tuesdays to Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.