Rachy Cuna joins Heritage Month festivities

By Nickie Wang

Contributor/Manila Standard Today

24 may 2008

Rioting colors, rumbling musical instruments, graceful dances and beautiful smiles: these were the highlights of the visually stimulating floral installation by world-renowned floral architect Rachy Cuna at the lobby of the Intercontinental Manila on May 13.

Entitled BayanCuna: Unity in Philippine Artistry and ongoing until June 14, the exhibit features Cuna’s latest works using local raw materials. From driftwood, dried leaves to sprig of twigs, Cuna flaunted his intuitive artistry turning these materials to a whole new creation.

“When people are divided in thought and spirit, what brings them closer is culture. Our own culture teaches Filipinos to love one another. That is what BayanCuna is all about,” Cuna affirms. “This exhibit is also about having fun and staying positive. The vibrant colors of these masterpieces reflect the Philippine culture: lively and very rich,” he explains.

He added that the floral installation is in line with the celebration of the Philippine Heritage Month, and the better way to pay homage to the country is by celebrating the abundance of flora across the archipelago. This is same idea that inspires him every time he stages an exhibit.

The blooming show

Accompanied by the national folkdance company of the Philippines’ the Bayanihan, Cuna entered the venue like a royalty riding a boat-like chariot carried by the dancers. He was then applauded by the ethnically diverse audience who came to see the exhibition.

Mirrored in his piece “Tatlong Tugatog,” inspired by the mountains of Davao, is his third year in Intercontinental Manila as a floral architect. This year is also his third exhibition in the hotel. His previous successful exhibitions were the bamboo inspired “Kawayanihan,” and the Christmas Tree exhibit.

“Definitely, all of the masterpieces here reflect Filipino culture and history,” says Nonie Dono, an exhibition designer from Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

The primary purpose of the exhibition is to highlight the multi-faceted features of the Philippine culture through Cuna’s artworks: the piece “Tsinoy” tells the story of the Chinese influence in the country; “Puno ng Bahay” tells the modest living of the early Filipinos; “Dugong Bughaw” and “Yamang Dagat” illustrate the richness of the country’s marine life; “Kalakaran,” where Cuna utilized bakya (wooden slippers) depicts the busy life in the countryside; “Pag-usbong” and “Kayumanggi” depict the many Filipino talents that continuously surface here and abroad; and “Isa Pa Nga” and “Bingo Panalo” erected with bamboo and rattan, describe the peculiar yet jocose behavior of the Filipino people and just like the materials, resilient and have hurdled the tests of time.

Heritage Month kicks off

By Nickie Wang

Manila Standard Today

3 May 2008

“To build among people a consciousness, respect, and pride for the legacies of Filipino cultural history” is the chief objective of the Filipino Heritage Festival as it commences this merry month of May.

Ongoing until June 12, a month-long celebration will take place across the archipelago to promote the diversity and richness of the Filipino culture. The whole event will be made possible by the tandem of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Department of Tourism.

This national festival aims to promote cultural heritage sites and architectural wonders, various facets of Filipino culture such as tiangges, music and dance performances, visual arts, exhibits, thematic culinary events, design retrospectives, walking tours and array of activities that will bring the Filipino people a new awareness of age-old traditions, cultural treasures and practices.

Filipino Heritage Festival director Bambi Harper stated that this year’s festivities will reopen a treasure trove of oral traditions presenting epic chants that showcase the traditional beliefs and values of early Filipinos.

To captivate local and foreign tourists, the festival will pay tribute to the Filipino epic by bringing to life age-old chants. This is spearheaded by Maranao’s venerable epic “Darangen ni Bantugen” to be performed by the Philippine Ballet Theater and Sayaw Foundation on May 14 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo. Excerpts of this epic chant will be revisited in Las Piñas and Cagayan de Oro City.

The odyssey of Darangen is a celebration of Maranao’s opulent history that narrates the adventures of mythical heroes. Embedded in the chant are social values, traditions and customary laws. This epic chant is one of the 43 declared by Unesco as “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritages of Humanity,” which is told and retold in the original ancient verse.

The festival was born out of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Proclamation 439 on Aug. 11, 2003, “declaring the month of May as National Heritage Month.” This year’s roaster of events is organized by festival president Armita Rufino and finance officer Araceli Salas.

The Heritage Month kicked off in Cagayan de Oro City with the Darangen epic, Maranao and Higaonon weaving, Subanen baskets, mats, pottery and beads, and their crafting, and performances by homegrown talents Gintong Amihan Dance Troupe of the Mindanao Polytechnic State College, the Xavier University Dance Society, and the Rondalla of Pilgrim and Mr. Waway Saway.

Underscoring this event are Farola (exhibit of Spanish colonial lighthouses found all over the country) in Gameng Museo, Ilocos Norte until July and at Robinsons Galleria on May 8, Philippine Spanish Colonial Bridges (a weeklong photo exhibit of the old Spanish colonial bridges in the Philippines by architect Manuel Noche of the University of Sto. Tomas) at Robinsons Mall, Lipa City, Batangas on May 5, Bangsa Moro Exhibit with lecture ( 30-panel photo exhibit featuring pre-colonial photographs acquired by the family of former Rep. Michael Mastura from Washington archives) at the Davao Museum on May 11 to 31, Tapan Exhibit of Philippine Fiestas ( photo exhibits by renowned photographer Donald Tapan) at Robinsons Mall Ermita on May 13, Sinauna (showcase of Filipino artifacts) at SM Mall of Asia on May 15 to 21, Patawa (evoking laughter with poems, jokes, photos and memorabilia) at the Metropolitan Museum on May 19, National Artist Exhibit at SM Megamall on May 19 to 22, Banig Exhibit and Komedya Linambay (showcase of handwoven mats of Basey, Samar) at SM Cebu on May 24, Kisame ( display of the magnificent church ceiling paintings in Bohol) at the Ayala Museum on May 26 to July 6, and “Las Gran Damas de Negros” (biographical photo exhibit of Negrense Women of Substance then and now).

The observance of the Heritage Month will also feature Santacruzan in the City of Manila tomorrow, a Balagtasan on May 7, 8, and 14 in Hagonoy, Bulacan, and also at the Inner Ground of both the Quezon City Hall and Makati City Hall, a thematic food festival at the Intercontinental Hotel featuring Bicol Food Harvest Festival, May 6 to 31, and the Parian (a re-enactment of Chinese influx to Manila to serve the needs of the Spaniards) at the Binondo Plaza on May 17.

Different regional festivities will take place across the archipelago.