TIAF 2021

Lectures & Seminar

Despite this pandemic, we celebrate the 11th Tam-Awan International Arts Festival with the theme, “Grand Canao: A Thanksgiving for the Gift of Culture and Arts”, with various lectures conducted by artists and educators from different backgrounds, nurturing cognizance.

Conducting lectures in relevance to the theme has a big impact on our society. We proudly share the knowledge and experiences of artists and educators in the culture and arts for education and awareness.

LECTURERS

Nina is a teacher currently based in Baguio City. She spent her teen years as a groupie of her father’s theatre company, Tanghalang Pilipino, the resident theatre company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. She was also exposed to the rich and diverse cultural heritage in local arts and crafts across the country, through her mother’s Katutubong Filipino Foundation revival projects in the 90s. This is why she believes cultural sustainability is a way of life.

Mideo Cruz’ art is a series of social commentaries mischievously hiding behind relatable, familiar, if distorted and deliberately misshapen images and concepts. Never obvious, the meaning of many of Cruz’ creations is always within grasp, but seldom concretely tangible. One is provoked into interpreting the images and their messages; one is almost forced into feeling a reaction: often it’s frustration, sometimes it is sadness or grief at the solitary, singular nature of the ideas that are coaxed into being. Those who are unfamiliar with Cruz’ art may be tempted to make the accusation that it is pretentious, and they would be sadly mistaken and completely miss the point. Much of Cruz’ work is prompted by how he analyzes and understands current developments in Philippine society and the rest of the world, and his understanding is deeply rooted in the chaotic clash of ideas on culture, tradition, and behaviors that are tolerated but essentially wrong and unjust in societies where history is frequently distorted by the powers that be, and manipulated by those who rewrite it for personal, hence political gain. Cruz also makes it a mission of his art to call attention to the evils of consumerism and the global capitalist system that promotes mindless consumerism and waste. The crap capitalism produces is gobbled up by the public, and the process generates a relentless cycle of destruction: for human intelligence, for the environment, for social evolution. In the end, it is hard to find an element of hope in Cruz’ art. Judging by his most recent work, Cruz himself does not present any alternatives or cures to the social ills he calls attention to. He is content to annoy, anger, and frustrate – and perhaps this is enough because it encourages thought and contemplation, particularly among those who are already sleepless over how the world and humanity are going to hell in a handbasket.

Photo by MJ Suayan

Ammin Acha-ur is from Butbut, Tinglayan, Kalinga and part of the new generation of “mambabatok” (tattoo practitioner).

She is also a musician, actor, and cultural worker. Ammin is currently doing batok here in baguio.