Global Prospectus for the Arts in the Philippines: Artists for the Creative Industries

I. Rationale

The Philippines is looking closely at creative industries and its impact on economy and development. The mapping of creative industries in the country, among other initiatives for the sector, is currently being undertaken by government to guide policymakers. There is a need to develop a clear understanding of the various initiatives in the sector. Practitioners can benefit from knowing the context of their industry vis-à-vis local and global trends.

Architecture/landscape architecture, and the visual, musical and literary arts have been identified as major contributors to the creative industry, providing content that can be applied to products and services for both local and international consumption. Artists and scholars from these identified sectors have yet to come together to discuss issues, share knowledge and develop recommendations that will help their respective industries to flourish. It is critical to get together and share a common vision for the development of the creative industry, specifically in the identified sectors.

II. Project Description

Global Prospectus for the Arts in the Philippines is designed for creative artists, scholars and other practitioners from architecture/landscape architecture, and the visual, musical and literary arts. Through the conference, it is hoped that practitioners will be able to share experiences, identify key strengths and assess various determinants that will help sustain the creative industries for the many years to come.

Day 1 of the conference aims to provide a global and national perspective of the creative industry sector particularly in the visual, musical and literary arts and its applications. Keynote addresses, to be delivered by national experts and a speaker from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), will provide the local and global context of the ensuing sessions. Successful models of creative initiatives will also be shared by key personalities in their respective fields including processes to develop products and services from creation of original content to profit generation, provide an overview of practices – what works and what doesn't, and recommend good practice.

Part I of Day 2 of the conference will be a sharing of experiences and key practices from community initiatives led by non-government organizations. The session will discuss community-based practices to develop cultural products and services, and working in the context of a community.

Part II provides an economic perspective to the discussions of the conference. It will be a presentation of the WIPO Study on the economic contribution of copyright-based industries in the Philippines. It will also identify issues and concerns surrounding the visual, literary and media arts that impacts copyright-based industries.

At least two hundred (200) delegates are expected to attend the conference.

III. Project Objectives and Expected Outcomes

The Conference aims to:

1. Gather practitioners in architecture/landscape architecture, the visual, literary and musical arts to share experience – what works and what doesn't – in the context of local and global trends for the creative industry.

2. Identify issues and develop recommendations to grow and sustain the identified industries

Recommendations from the conference will be communicated to relevant organizations as input to government initiatives to develop the sector.

IV. Implementation Arrangements

The Deans of the University of the Philippines' Colleges of Arts and Letters (National Artist and Professor Virgilio Almario), Fine Arts (Professor Tina Colayco), Architecture (Professor Dan Silvestre) and Music (Professor Ramon Acoymo) together with IP Philippines Director General (Atty. Adrian Cristobal Jr.) are the lead convenors of the conference.

V. Participant's Profile

The participants will come from architecture/landscape architecture, the visual, literary and musical arts sectors of the creative industries including key stakeholders from the academe, government, international organizations and the private sector.


Global Prospectus for the Arts in the Philippines: Artists for the Creative Industries

Abelardo Hall (College of Music Building), University of the Philippines

Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

27-28 November 2008

Conference Fee: P1000 (good or two days, includes free entry to conference lectures, jazz concert, conference bag/kit, access to book and art exhibits)

Contact info:

Rhodge Fernandez - seventhgecko@yahoo.com

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Global Prospectus for the Arts in the Philippines:

Artists for the Creative Industries

Abelardo Hall, University of the Philippines

Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

27-28 November 2008

WORKING PROGRAM

27 November, Day 1

0900H Registration

0930H Opening Ceremonies

Philippine National Anthem: Prof. Ramon Acoymo, Dean, U.P. College of Music

Opening Remarks: Dr. Sergio S. Cao, Chancellor, University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD)

Message: Atty. Adrian Cristobal Jr., Director-General, Intellectual Property (IP) Office Philippines

1000H Session 1: Global and National Perspective on the Creative Industries and the Arts

Keynote Speakers:

1. Overview of the Arts in the Philippines – Mr. Nestor Jardin, President, Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)
2. Global Perspective – Ms. Donna Ghelfi, Senior Program Officer, Creative Industries Division, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Convener: Prof. Ramon Acoymo, Dean, UP College of Music

Moderator: Prof. Gemma Malicdem, College Secretary, UP College of Music

1200H Lunch Break

1330H Session 2: Managing the Arts

The session aims to present successful models of creative initiatives including processes to develop products and services from creation of original content to profit generation and provide an overview of practices – what works and what doesn’t. The panel will be composed of key personalities who have made globally in their respective fields -- Advertising, Music, Furniture Design/Visual Arts and Architecture/Landscape Architecture.

Speaker: Ms. Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, General Manager, Summit Media

Convener: Prof. Tina Colayco, Dean, UP College of Fine Arts/ Publisher and Founder, Art Post Asia

Moderator: Prof. Ruben de Jesus, Assistant Professor, UP College of Fine Arts

1415H Panel Discussion

1. Mr. Marlon Rivera, President and Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Manila
2. Mr. Kenneth Cobonpue, furniture design leader
3. Arch’t. Catherine Saldaña, Director, Client Services, Resource Partners; AIA, UAP

1500H Break

1515H Session 3: Artists as Entrepreneurs

Local and individual initiatives that have spurred successful businesses will be discussed in the session. It aims to provide a perspective from the artist as creator and as entrepreneur. The panel will be composed of key personalities in Sculpture/Visual Arts, Publishing/Literary Arts, Jewelry Design/Visual Arts and Architecture/Landscape Architecture.

Speaker: Mr. Carlo Orosa, singer, star builder and artist manager

Convener: Prof. and Archt. Danilo Silvestre, Dean, UP College of Architecture /
Founder, DA Silvestre and Associates (DASA)

Moderator: Dr. Gerard Rey Lico, Campus Architect, UP Diliman

1600H Panel Discussion

1. Mr. Reggie Yuson, visual artist
2. Ms. Gilda Cordero Fernando, writer, publisher, cultural activist and icon
3. Mr. Robert Alejandro, visual artist, book designer and television reporter
4. Arch’t. Maria Cristina V. Turalba, architect and planner

1645H Summary and Synthesis of Day 1.

1700H Cocktails

1800H Concert featuring the U.P. Jazz Orchestra

28 November, Day 2

0900H Session 4a: Case Studies of Community-Based Industries

Community based initiatives have helped create niche markets for creative services locally and internationally. This session aims to discuss and share the context of creating viable creative initiatives within the context of the community and present case studies as models. Panelists will be led by a community organizer; discussants will be key leaders of community-based organizations who have initiated sustainable creative work.

Speakers: Mr. Lutgardo Labad, Director, Teatro Bol-Anon, and Fr. Valentino Pinlac, Chairperson, Diocesan Cultural Heritage Commission of Tagbilaran City, Bohol

Convener: Prof. Virgilio S. Almario, National Artist for Literature and Dean, UP College of Arts and Letters

Moderator: Prof. Jose Wendell Capili, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, UP College of Arts and Letters

0945H Break

1000H Panel Discussion

1. Mr. Armand Sta. Ana, Artistic Director, Barasoain Kalinangan Theater Group
2. Mr. Alfonso "Coke" Bolipata, Executive Director, Miriam College Center for Applied Music
3. Arch’t. Edwina Consunji-Laperal, Director and Treasurer, DM Consunji Inc. (DMCI)

1200H Lunch Break

Host: University of the Philippines President Emerlinda R. Roman

1330H Session 5: Managing IP in Creative Industries

The session provides inputs to the sector in terms of managing creative enterprises using collective management of copyright and the trademark system and considering the challenges of a digital environment for creative industries to add value that will benefit the business bottom line.

Speakers:

• Ang Kwee Tiang, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers
• Atty. Emma C. Francisco, President, Intellectual Property Professors Association
• Atty. Jesus Antonio Z. Ros, Bureau of Trademarks, IP Philippines

Convener: Atty. Louie Calvario, IP Office Philippines

Moderator: Ms. Precious Lejano, IP Office Philippines

1500H Break

1515H Session 6: Development of Policy Statements

1700H Conference Summary and Presentation of Resolutions

1730H Conference Cocktails

1830H World Premiere of Dulaang U.P.’s “Atang”, a musical based on the life of National Artist Atang de la Rama

Venue: Wilfrido Maria Guerrero Theater, Palma Hall, U.P. Diliman

Cast: Ms. Frances Makil-Ignacio, Ms. Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, Ms. Ayen Munji-Laurel, Ms. Bituin Escalante, Mr. Ricky Ibe, Ms. Jacinta Remulla, Mr. Mitoy Sta. Ana, Mr. Arkel Mendoza and The Dulaang U.P. Ensemble

Script: Mr. Floy Quintos, playwright, scriptwriter and television director

Direction: Prof. Alexander Cortez, Artistic Director, Dulaang U.P.

high school teachers

Planet English: High-school teachers

Written by Jose Wendell Capili

Monday, 10 November 2008 01:07

To use marginality as a starting point rather than an ending point is also to cross beyond it towards other affirmations and negations. —Trinh T. Minh-Ha, in Cotton and Iron AT the University of Santo Tomas high school, my teachers were very encouraging. Class advisers like Mrs. Leticia Pacheco, Mrs. Milagros Ocampo and Mrs. Zenaida Buquid-Manego pushed my classmates to make me class president or officer. Because class advisers were so influential, my classmates gave in. Class positions led to schoolwide positions. Eventually, I got exposed to different levels of power relations: teachers against students, students against administrators, students against other students. Luckily, my class advisers reminded me often to seek the middle ground. “You can be more effective by transforming the lives of others,” they always said. In high school, that meant covering up for my classmates’ misdemeanors. English, speech and literature teachers like Mrs. Lourdes Salcedo, Mrs. Teresa Taas, Mrs. Leilani Austria and Mrs. Norma Collantes insisted that I have writing skills. Every year, they urged me to take the annual editorial exams for The Aquinian, the high school paper. During those days, The Aquinian was an enclave for students belonging to the top sections. The paper’s alumni roster included Jollibee, Greenwich and Red Ribbon top official Gina Bautista Navarette, ABS-CBN vice presidents Joaquin Enrico Santos and Roldeo Theodore Endrinal, Madrid-based corporate property consultant Joseph Estrellado, pediatrician and businessman Noel Martin Syquia Bautista, New York-based prizewinning writers Eric Gamalinda and Bino Realuyo, journalist Ramil Gulle, poet and critic J. Neil Garcia, singer Janet Basco, director, playwright and screenwriter Jun Lana and rehabilitation medicine expert Jose Fernando Syquia. Initially, I could not get in, not even for positions like “contributor” or “correspondent.” I was just an average student. I didn’t belong to section one or two. After flunking the editorial exams twice, I stopped writing. Still, during my senior year, my English, speech and literature teachers pushed me again to take the annual editorial exams for the last time. After so much anxiety and tension, I took the competitive tests without expecting anything. Days after the exams, I was shocked to find out that I passed. Even more incredibly, I was going to be a part of the editorial board. The other members of the editorial board were really bright students: Erie Alcantara (currently creative director for a top advertising firm), Hannelore Grace Paat (a US-based physiotherapist), Linette Linsangan (one of our two class valedictorians, she made it to UP’s very competitive integrated liberal arts and medicine [intarmed] program; she practices pediatric infectious disease medicine and pediatrics in Texas, USA), Francis Raymond Carandang (finished chemical engineering at U.C. Berkeley; he is now a medical officer and pediatrician for the United States Air Force) and Bino Realuyo (the prizewinning Manhattan-based Filipino-American poet and novelist). Meanwhile, during my senior year, Mrs. Collantes made me write a play (“How often is once?”), a thinly disguised narrative about puppy love and infidelity. Staged twice at the high-school auditorium between February and March 1983, the writing and direction (credits all mine) of the play were so-so. But Mrs. Collantes could not contain herself from proclaiming the play as my “world premiere.” I will always thank her for pushing me to experiment with drama and for spending her own money to help produce the play. On the other hand, teachers like Ms. Marissa Casas and Ms. Agripina Manapat taught me the value of honesty and integrity. During religion and economics classes, they often drew their lessons from relevant local, national and international events. Years later, I realized that I was not obsessive over fortune or fame because Ms. Casas and Ms. Manapat insisted that I should limit my choices to the few things that really make me happy. Before finishing high-school, I was declared as the recipient of the high-school leadership award, a highly coveted prize for students during my time. Because I did not come from the honor sections (I was from section four), two influential teachers opposed my proclamation. Ms. Casas and Ms. Manapat fought for me, along with my other teachers and organization advisers. Soon, the controversy became a battle between teachers. Most teachers voted for me. But the very few teachers who were against me were backed up by powerful people. The award was eventually given to a friend who also deserved to receive the prize. On graduation day, my high-school teachers cried as they hugged me. “Remember everything we taught you,” they said. “And prove THEM wrong.” I didn’t fare too well in high school, but teachers were always there to be on my side. Long before triumphs anywhere, there was UST High. I was able to cross many borders after high school because I had teachers who taught me how to create spaces where I can heal and fly.

on the 2008 national book awards by professor isagani r. cruz

Opinion

Book finalists MINI CRITIQUE By Isagani Cruz Updated November 13, 2008 12:00 AM

The finalists for this year’s National Book Awards were chosen in a different way from those of last year.

Previously, the members themselves of the Manila Critics Circle chose the finalists. We would go through every book ourselves, choose the ones we thought were better than the rest, and named those as finalists for the Awards.

When we started in 1981, there were very few Philippine books published, and we could easily read everything. As the years went by, however, the number of books multiplied beyond the capacity of one person to read. We would then assign each one to read so many books, and let a single member decide whether to name a book as finalist or not.

This year, thanks to the National Book Development Board (NBDB), the process of choosing finalists has not only become easier, but more democratic. NBDB asked professional organizations to choose the finalists. The Circle just had to read the finalists and choose which among those would be given the Awards. Instead of reading more than 300 books a year, each of us in the Circle now read less than a hundred.

This is the list of those that chose the finalists for the Awards: American Hospitality Academy Philippines, Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices, Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing and Research Center, De La Salle University Business Management Department, De La Salle University Department of Communication, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Kuwentista ng mga Tsikiting, Likhaan: University of the Philippines Institute for Creative Writing, National Historical Institute, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Philippine Economics Society, Philippine Literary Arts Council, Philippine Travel Agencies Association, University of Asia and the Pacific Department of Filipino, University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development, University of the Philippines Psychology Department, and Women’s Studies Association of the Philippines.

NBDB chose a different judge per category to join the members of the Circle in choosing the winners. These are the NBDB-appointed judges and the categories in which they voted: Gemino H. Abad (Poetry), Emily A. Abrera (Travel), Francisco P. Altarejos (Medicine), Jose Wendell Capili (Essay & Creative Nonfiction), Pamela C. Constantino (Linguistics), Gene Cordova (Cookbooks and Food), Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz (Children’s Literature), Gary C. Devilles (Literary Criticism), Francisco Doplon (Design), Dennis T. Gonzalez (Theology & Religion), Joaquin Henson (Sports), Elmer C. Hernandez (Business, Economics, & Finance), Justice Santiago Kapunan (Law), Marne Kilates (Translation), Zosimo E. Lee (Social Sciences), Priscelina P. Legasto (Biography & Autobiography), Malou Mangahas (Journalism), Mario Miclat (Anthology), Ambeth R. Ocampo (History), Charlson Ong (Short Fiction), Cid Reyes (Art), Jun Cruz Reyes (Fiction), Nona S. Ricafort (Education), Merle C. Tan (Sciences), and Alvin B. Yapan (Drama).

As in previous years, donors are giving cash awards in certain categories. Ma. Isabel G. Ongpin is giving the P20,000 Alfonso T. Ongpin Prize to the best book in art or architecture. Jaime C. Laya and Eleanor Laya de Gracia are giving the P40,000 Juan C. Laya Prizes for the best fiction books. The annual P10,000 Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Prize for the best book in business, economics, or finance will not be given this year because there is no winner in that category.

Thanks to the indefatigable Executive Director of NBDB, Atty. Andrea Pasion-Flores, and her staff, the selection process went smoothly. The Awards will be announced and given out on Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Yuchengco Museum. Guest speaker for the evening is Senator Edgardo J. Angara, the author of the NBDB law and one of last year’s major sponsors of the Awards. This year, because his book on Baler is one of the finalists, the Circle could not and did not ask him for a sponsorship.

Sponsors for this year’s awards include Senator Mar Roxas, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Yuchengco Museum, Manila Bulletin, Galerie Joaquin, and Fuji Xerox. Trophies were designed by Glenn Cagandahan.