Tagbo 2018 rolls out activities for Arts Month

POETRY performances, spoken word, Bikol music, theater, films, creative talks, competitions, art exhibits, a book sale, and a lake ‘literatour’ mark Tagbo 2018, National Arts Month celebration in the Bikol region. Supported in part by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), individuals and groups announce their events in six towns and three cities, following NCCA’s theme “Ani ng Sining, Alab ng Sining” and the Literary Committee’s slogan of “MAARTEXT.” Sulog One-Minute Digital Film Contest, Feb 1 To kick off the arts celebration is the launching of a 1-Minute Digital Film Competition on the theme of saving our rivers and waterways, sponsored by Sumaro sa Salog, Inc. (SULOG). The digital film competition is designed to tap the talents of Bikol youth, 16-22 years old, in making 30-second to one-minute films in the service of Bikol’s rivers and waterways. An individual, or a group of not more than five, may submit an entry. The rules for the film competition, for both live action and animated films shot with a mobile device, are posted on the Sulog Film Competition Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sulogfilmcompetition/ and Sulog Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sulog.naga/. Cash prizes and certificates of recognition will be given to the winners of this contest which will run from Feb 1 – May 31, 2018. SULOG, Inc., a volunteer organization that seeks to strengthen citizens’ participation in river governance and to help clean and save the rivers and waterways of Bicol, will facilitate the showing of the best entries in local cinemas and on television. Tanog Bikol: Musika asin Literatura, Feb 10 Bikol musikos will jam with spoken word artists in Tanog Bikol: Musika asin Literatura, on Saturday, Feb 10, 6:30 pm at Burabod, on Dayangdang Ave., Naga City. Organized by composer Muloi Prado, Tanog Bikol is part of the continuing effort of local musikos to arrive at a distinctive “Bikol Sound” via an increase in the production and preservation of original Bikol music. 4k Barrel has pledged to participate, along with other finalists in the 2017 Bicol Music Festival Reloaded, Balatan folk singer John Benedict Mangente, Ildefonso Celocelo Jr., and Abiel Leo Candelaria. Other music artists who will participate are Jennelyn Bujo and Ken Romero who will sing a song from the river advocacy play “Mga Aninipot sa Tahaw kan Salog,” the rawitdawit-music tandem of Vic Nierva of Lupi and Jireh Pasano of Albay, and Melissa Basmayor with Jason Chancoco in a Spoken Word with music performance. A highlight of the activity is a jam session between Joey Santiago who unearthed suanoy Bikol kundiman from his music archives, to which contemporary artists will respond. Primo, Prima, Feb 10-28 Visual artist Bernadette B. de los Santos, aka Bidibidi, will be joined by her cousin Jose F. de los Santos, Jr. in an art exhibit entitled “Primo, Prima” at Café des Arts, Baao, Camarines Sur. Ms de los Santos’s medium is oil while Mr. de los Santos’s is watercolor. The exhibit will open on Feb 10 and will run until Feb 28. Literatura y Figuras, Feb 10 Literatura y Figuras resurrects a colonial art style to re-present visually Bikol mythical and literary creatures. This event, organized by representative to the Literary Arts Committee of the NCCA Frank Peñones Jr. will be held at the St. Anthony of Padua Parish Church Hall in Iriga City, on Feb 10 at 9 am. This is a Hiras - Dunong social enterprise and features the work of the Makulay Rinconada Artists. The group intends to make it a traveling exhibit to cover Baao, Nabua, Bato, and Buhi Mga Aninipot sa Tahaw kan Salog, Feb 11, 17, 25 The aninipot (fireflies) will sing and dance again to retell the stories of riverine communities in a performance of Sari Saysay’s river advocacy play, “Mga Aninipot sa Tahaw kan Salog.” Now a production of Sangre de Naga Theater Group led by Isbel Wasan Borja, three shows will be held at the Libmanan Cultural Center on Feb 11, at 1, 3, and 5pm, sponsored by the non-government organization Libmanan for Reform, Accountability, Transparency & Empowerment (LIBRATE). The Aninipot, which has new cast members, will also perform at the Naga Parochial School on Feb 17, sponsored by the Naga Parochial School Parents Association. Two more shows will be held at Emily Theater on Feb 25, 2 and 6 pm. Tickets at P100 each will be available at the Aroaldaw Learning and Tutorial Center, 4F Emall, or contact Bel Borja, 09328873850. All proceeds will go to arts and culture endeavors and to river advocacy projects. Creative Talks, Feb 15 “Creativity,” your parents would probably say, “does not put food on the table.” But Creatives (photographers, food stylists, chefs) make food look good on the table! Five creatives will speak on the loves (and lives) of their creative selves at the Museo ni Jesse Robredo on Taal Street on Feb 15, 2 pm. The speakers and organizers, led by Paolo Sumayao, will answer the questions “What is it really like to be a CREATIVE in the region today? How do we realize what the job title “freelance multi-hyphenate” has in store for us?” The creatives will speak not only on how you don’t just become like them, but do more than what they’ve accomplished in this era. Admission is free, with sponsorship from the NCAA, Avenue Plaza Hotel, Parabella Ads, Soleil Store, and Bigg’s Diner. The Dutertards and the Tokhangers, Feb. 16 & 17 Since the barangay election is just around the corner, the Teatro de Sta. Luisa (TSL) deems it timely to produce the election advocacy play “The Dutertards and the Tokhangers,” a story that exposes the youth to the goings-on in the political arena – its realities and influence on the citizens. The play seeks to expose the traditional political culture surrounded by corruption and other issues, and its influence on the youth, which may blur their idealism. The play will also introduce how the characters like Barangay Captain Duterta and the people of Barangay Tokhang, the Tokhangers, will face the issue of drug addiction and other pressing concerns in Philippine society. The story will also usher the audience to the various types of politicians who appear in all “shapes and colors” who visit their place, trying to lure them with the promise of a good life should they vote for them. Their responses and reactions to the candidates’ schemes would be a reflection of the kinds of voters that will shape the country’s political system after elections. What happens to the community will serve as a microcosm of Philippine society in general, in terms of how they exercise their right of suffrage. Billed as entertainment for the old, the young, and the single, “The Dutertards and the Tokhangers” will be presented on, coincidentally or not, Chinese New Year and the next day at the Universidad de Sta. Isabel auditorium. The shows are on Feb 16, 10am and 2pm and Feb 17, 3pm and 6pm. Tickets cost P50. More details are available on the Facebook page of Teatro Sta. Luisa, https://www.facebook.com/teatro.destaluisa. Dalan: Bikol Short Films, Feb 18 The romantic Camaligan wharf will serve as a backdrop for arts offering of the Ateneo Literary Association (ALA) for National Arts Month, DALAN: A Bikol Short Film Showing Year 2, with the Camaligan local government unit as partner. Selected indie films created by Bikolnon, including animated films, will be shown at the venue. Some of the films will feature the convergence of literature and film. Unlike last year’s Dalan, held at Plaza Rizal in Naga, the activity will include short talks and discussions about the Bikol films. The films will be shown for free and open to the public. Teatro Ragayano, Feb 20 & 26 The two contemporary pressing issues of HIV-AIDS and the environment are the themes of Teatro Ragayano’s performances in the railroad town of Ragay, Camarines Sur for National Arts Month 2018. Teatro Ragayano, a semi-professional community theater based at the Ragay National Agricultural and Fisheries School (RNAFS), Liboro, Ragay, will produce eight monologues on the topic of HIV-AIDS awareness as well as musical plays on environmental awareness. The monologues were written by eight students and teachers from Ragay and are a product of a basic playwriting workshop conducted by the late playwright Carlos A. Arejola in March and May 2016. “Sulog nin Pagkamoot” (Love’s Currents) is on aquatic resources preservation, while “The More of Life” is an adaptation of Trina Paulus’ Hope for the Flowers on personal, social, and environmental metamorphoses. The shows will be on Feb. 20, 3 pm at the Andaya Covered Court in Ragay, and on Feb 26, 3 pm at RNAFS. They are produced and directed by Eilyn Nidea with support from NCCA. Hablon 2.0: Habi Ng Sining Sa Paaralan At Komunidad, Feb 21 Experimental and contemporary performance forms by the youth will highlight Hablon 2.0, Sining Banwa’s activity for National Arts Month, on Feb. 21, 5 pm, at Poison Cauldron, Daraga, Albay. Local and original pieces will take center stage, providing a common platform for a variety of arts from both seasoned and budding artists. Hablon 2.0 will feature poetry reading/ performed poetry / spoken word, dramatic reading of plays, music and songs / rap, iristoryahan buda karape-kape (storytelling and coffee) to weave their collective creative responses to current socio-political events. Hablon 2.0 is a reprise of Hablon in February 2015, with the aim of continuously weaving the harvests of local artists, therefore producing a collective cultural awareness that is Bikol, contemporary, and social. The first Hablon, in cooperation with NCCA, gathered Bikolano artists from schools and communities in a week-long activity that included workshops, forum, performances and a laboratory theatre production of ‘Tatlong Libong Bayani ng Ibalong,’ a contemporary reimagining of the Bikol epic Ibalong. Sining Banwa is an increasingly prominent and active Albay-based inter-disciplinary arts group formally established in August 2011. An independent cultural community organization, it aims to create venues for experimenting and theorizing on theatre and performance by way of research and practice of multiple art forms such as literature, music, dance and movement, and visual arts. Sining Banwa has committed itself to producing artistic pieces that are reflective of local and national social conditions. It aims to use different performance platforms such as universities, churches, marketplaces, roads and sidewalks, parks, barangay halls and many others. Their members are volunteer artists from different sectors of the community. Bulos Buhi: Lake Buhi Literatour, Feb 24 Cultural workers of Buhi, in partnership with environmentally-inclined civil society and private and schools, will circumnavigate Lake Buhi on a “Literatour” called Bulos Buhi, at 12 noon on Feb 24. An advocacy event organized by arts and civil groups, in the lake town, Bulos Buhi will promote environmental consciousness through firsthand observation of Lake Buhi, the town’s major economic and natural resource and the cradle of its identity. Lake Buhi is known for sinarapan, now an endangered species. The lake tour will be followed by various creative expressions, such as poetry reading, performances, and publications, thus in the process, making arts and culture serve the people and the environment. The tour will culminate in a reading of Lake Stories for Children and other performances for the environment. Organizers of this event are the one-year old Project Susog led by Ryan Cuatrona, and Parasurat Bikolnon. They will also seek the involvement of the fisher folk for this activity. Interested parties from outside Buhi, particularly from Naga and on the route to Buhi and vice versa, may avail of a free jeepney ride by pre-registering for the event. Seats are limited, and Feb 17 is the last day of pre-registration. Please contact Ryan at 09219965095 for this. Pagtanyog: Para Sa Karahayan, Feb 24 In the wake of Mayon Volcano’s eruption comes another quake, this time cultural, “Pagtanyog: Para sa Karahayan” to be held at Anthosia Café in Legazpi, Feb 24, 5 pm. Pagtanyog (Quake) is an exhibition of original music, poetry, and visuals “for goodness sake,” plus Kirtan Meditation, according to Richard Madrilejos, president of sponsoring community organization An Banwa: Kultura buda Artes kan Tabaco (ABKAT). ABKAT is a 13-year old organization engaged in research, development, and promotion of Bikol languages and culture through contemporary art forms in the fields of literature, music, dance, visual, theatre, and film. Its most sustained activity is Pagtanyog, a yearly showcase of original Bikol literature, visual, short plays and films. It has organized conferences and workshops and directed and produced publications. Aklat Ani sa Legazpi 2018, Feb 23-24 At the annual Aklat Ani sa Legazpi 2018, you don’t have to buy a book. A Bikol book. You may drop in to 1) meet fellow bookworms & Bikol nationalists, 2) rub elbows with authors & wannabe authors, 3) riffle through pages and pages of hundreds of Bikol books, 4) sell your own Bikol book, 5) listen to and/or recite rawit-dawit, 6) listen to and/or sing Bikol songs, 7) eat baduya, 8) quaff free suds, 9) take selfies, 10) smell the roses, 11) multitask, 12) and/or even buy a Bikol book or two. And at the 13th AKLAT ANI SA LEGAZPI on 23-24 February, the year of the dog, you won’t ever listen to speeches. Friday and Saturday. At the Museo de Legazpi. Free admission. Girok 4, Ekphrasis, Kabulig Inaugural Writers Prize, Feb 25 To cap the celebration of Arts Month, erotic texts written in a variety of Bikol languages will be read at Girok 4, at Kinamon, Magsaysay Ave., Naga City on Feb 25, 2-6 pm. Some poems serve as poets’ responses to art work by visual artists, such as Lorna Margate and Rommel Perez, on the theme of Bikol erotica in an ekphrasis activity organized by Dennis Gonzaga. Girok 4, sponsored by Kabulig-Bikol, Inc., will culminate in the awarding of the Kabulig Inaugural Writers Prize for poetry on the theme of the Bikol erotic. Cash prizes, medals, and books will be given as awards. Copies of the book Girok: Erotika will also be sold at a big discount during the event. Tickets will be sold for the occasion. For queries, email kabuligbikolinc@gmail.com or contact Elbert O. Baeta/ 09096571786 KABULIG Bikol, Inc. is a non-profit, non-government organization composed of writers in Naga and Camarines Sur dedicated to supporting and promoting Bikol arts and culture. Kabulig, meaning one who shares or helps in an endeavor, is the most sustained Bikol literary organization in the last decade and has produced and supported many of the present crop of writers actively writing in the Bikol languages.