In the last week of November the Advocacy for Development in Central Luzon staged an exhibit of 100 art works in “NaSi”, short for national situation, at the Holy Angel University. This was staged to showcase the perspective and interpretations of Kapampangan artists on the changes that take place in the world that surround them. ADCL Executive Director Atsing Mini Arceo had been very busy for months preparing for this event, along with exhibit curator tito Edille Paras.
A few days later the Fifth Sunrise Festival was held from November 27 to November 29 at the Picnic Grounds at Clark Special Economic Zone. The festival, organized yearly by the Maharlika Artist and Writers Federation, was brought to Pampanga by our very own Kapampangan artist Ysagani Ybarra who found strong backing from ADCL, Kalinangan Telabastagan and some members of the Pampanga Arts Guild.
While the festival itself was laudable as it brought together artists, musicians and cultural advocates from all over the Philippines to converge in Clark, I felt a tad disappointed on how the Aeta Culture was depicted by some of the younger members of the Aetas from Mabalacat.
During the opening night, a group of young aetas were supposed to perform what they called a “Dance Aeta” but ended up singing songs popularized by David Cook while garbed in hiphop clothes, with the Aeta girls donning Sex bomb-inspired outfits, complete with Americanized accents. The worse thing was, these young Aetas were laughing at the performances of the Ifugao people.
This is also awakening in a terrifying way, as it may suggest that the Aetas have been so engrossed in mainstream culture they have lost significant parts of their heritage and eroded their sense of self. I chanced upon Kapampangan studies enthusiast Kuya Mike Pangilinan and talked about revisiting some ethnographic materials done by anthropologists in the 1960s on the Aetas in Pampanga, just to compare what aspects of their culture are still intact at the moment. I think the Aeta incident is a reality check for us on how our indigenous peoples are faring these days.
As the Sunrise Festival ended, Sinukwan Festival began with its Pistang Kapampangan at historic Consunji Street in San Fernando that was truly a gastronomic celebration like no other. A new part of the Sinukwan Festival this year is the “Kalalangan Kapampangan” art exhibit at Robinsons Starmills which highlights the works of award-winning Kapampangan artists to serve as examples to our today’s young artists that they too could become great. Our group (Kuya Poch Jorolan, Tito Willy and me) did not have much time to prepare for this exhibit since it was more of a spur of the moment thing, but we managed to give it a try so we could have a bigger exhibit next year. Thanks to Don de Dios for helping us in setting up.
This early there are plans together with other art groups and artists, to form an art collective next year. This time around it will be named “KKK” or Kalalangan at Kulturang Kapampangan.
Until December 11, as part of Aldo ning Kapampangan, there is an ongoing art and photo exhibit at the Provincial Capitol organized by a committee led by Tito Noel Catacutan and Kuya Jude Pangilinan that features a wide array of art works by young and old artists alike.
I don’t remember a singular week that had this many art activities. I guess we are on the verge of an artistic renaissance in the province these days. In the past five years we have had a great start with our performing art or musical groups, especially with the likes of Sinukwan Performing Arts Center, Arti Sta. Rita, and ASLAG Kapampangan, and it is good to note that the visual arts scene is finally catching up.
A caveat must be noted for us to be wary of the unscrupulous among us. To name a few instances: a MOKA awardee from the Alaya Chamber of the Arts who claimed an art work of another artist as his own, or another artist who misrepresented the Kapampangans as a cultural minority group. These things do happen. But that’s no reason for us to stop the art awakening among the Kapampangans.
