THE VALUE OF CULTURAL VALUES
BANTAY GOBYERNO SERIES 067
By Ike Señeres 05/05/2011
THE VALUE OF CULTURAL VALUES
Well known stage Director Fernando Josef of Tanghalang Pilipino says that it is important for Filipinos young and old to “rediscover” our cultural heritage, because our values as a people are rooted in our culture. I think that this topic is directly related to the issue of our having a “damaged culture”. As a matter of fact, I also think that the pervasive presence of massive corruption in our society is largely due to that “damaged culture”.
Even if we accept for argument’s sake that our culture is “damaged”, that does not mean that it is “gone” now, or that it is “gone” forever. We could also accept for argument’s sake that many components of our culture are already “endangered”, but again that does not mean that these are already “extinct”, at least for the most part. This is where the need for “preservation” or “restoration” becomes important, as the case may be.
Modifying slightly what Director Josef said, I would rather say that many of our people, especially our youth, would still have to “discover” our cultural heritage in all its aspects, considering the fact that they have not seen or heard about the parts and pieces of this heritage, much less its full glory in a collective sense. As the saying goes, what you do not know won’t hurt you, but in this case, we could say that what our people do not know about our culture will not make them proud.
I was not looking for another cause or advocacy, since I know that I have already a bias for the advocacy for national development in general, and for anti-poverty in particular, along with anti-hunger and anti-homelessness so to speak. I was not at all inclined to take on the anti-corruption advocacy, because I thought that many people are already doing that, besides, I like economic programs more than political causes, not being a politician.
Whether I like it or not however, I always encounter the reality that the poverty in our country is either caused by corruption, or is aggravated by it. Of course I know that poverty is an economic problem, but as it turned out, Director Josef has given me a fresh insight that corruption actually has a cultural dimension, and it would not be farfetched to say that a more culturally proud people would become more patriotic, and becoming so might perhaps them (or us) to become less corrupt, out of a newly inspired love for this artistically rich country of ours.
As one opportunity led to another, Director Josef and I, together with a growing band of artists and culture advocates, are now working on a set of cultural preservation projects that will be housed in a highly suitable location. I am not at liberty to disclose this location yet, but suffice it to say that all those who are now supporting these projects are now very excited about the possible outcomes.
As planned, the set of projects will include a paintings gallery, a sculpture gallery, a photo gallery, a gift shop, an arts museum, an arts school, an arts theater and a film archive. All of the projects are meant to be income generating, so that rent and other overhead costs could be covered, and so that funds could be raised to support the preservation of our cultural arts in general, and the education of our young artists in particular.
As we tried to define the scope of our cultural arts, we realized that we should also include Filipino folk arts and Filipino martial arts, a decision that will surely lead us to a journey of discovery or rediscovery, as the case may be. At first glance, it is obvious that our folk arts should include all of our ethnic art and tribal arts, as well as our festival arts and church arts, the last two being closely intertwined.
The search for Filipino martial arts has become both fascinating and intriguing. So far, we have come across “dumog” and “buno”, two native forms of wrestling. We also came across “yo-yo” and “trompo”, both believed to be ancient weapons of war that have now become modern day toys. At some point, I realized that weapons of war are difficult to separate from the art forms, and this is the case of “arnis”, “balisong”, “latigo” and many others.
What started as an effort to preserve the costumes of the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Dance Company and the videos of Tanghalang Pilipino and Ballet Philippines has now grown into a cause that will democratize the opportunities for young artists, and will immortalize the role of Filipino women in art and society, the latter being an idea of Sister Mary John Mananzan of St. Scholastica’s College.
On the technical side, the project proponents will study the successful methods used by the Vargas Museum in preserving paintings, fabrics and artifacts through temperature control and humidity control, by way of computer chips. Luckily, these technologies are not alien to us, and there are volunteers who could help.
Tune in to KA IKING LIVE! 6 to 7pm Thursdays in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 8 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text to +639997333011. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com. Join Coffee Clutch Fridays
By Ike Señeres 05/05/2011
THE VALUE OF CULTURAL VALUES
Well known stage Director Fernando Josef of Tanghalang Pilipino says that it is important for Filipinos young and old to “rediscover” our cultural heritage, because our values as a people are rooted in our culture. I think that this topic is directly related to the issue of our having a “damaged culture”. As a matter of fact, I also think that the pervasive presence of massive corruption in our society is largely due to that “damaged culture”.
Even if we accept for argument’s sake that our culture is “damaged”, that does not mean that it is “gone” now, or that it is “gone” forever. We could also accept for argument’s sake that many components of our culture are already “endangered”, but again that does not mean that these are already “extinct”, at least for the most part. This is where the need for “preservation” or “restoration” becomes important, as the case may be.
Modifying slightly what Director Josef said, I would rather say that many of our people, especially our youth, would still have to “discover” our cultural heritage in all its aspects, considering the fact that they have not seen or heard about the parts and pieces of this heritage, much less its full glory in a collective sense. As the saying goes, what you do not know won’t hurt you, but in this case, we could say that what our people do not know about our culture will not make them proud.
I was not looking for another cause or advocacy, since I know that I have already a bias for the advocacy for national development in general, and for anti-poverty in particular, along with anti-hunger and anti-homelessness so to speak. I was not at all inclined to take on the anti-corruption advocacy, because I thought that many people are already doing that, besides, I like economic programs more than political causes, not being a politician.
Whether I like it or not however, I always encounter the reality that the poverty in our country is either caused by corruption, or is aggravated by it. Of course I know that poverty is an economic problem, but as it turned out, Director Josef has given me a fresh insight that corruption actually has a cultural dimension, and it would not be farfetched to say that a more culturally proud people would become more patriotic, and becoming so might perhaps them (or us) to become less corrupt, out of a newly inspired love for this artistically rich country of ours.
As one opportunity led to another, Director Josef and I, together with a growing band of artists and culture advocates, are now working on a set of cultural preservation projects that will be housed in a highly suitable location. I am not at liberty to disclose this location yet, but suffice it to say that all those who are now supporting these projects are now very excited about the possible outcomes.
As planned, the set of projects will include a paintings gallery, a sculpture gallery, a photo gallery, a gift shop, an arts museum, an arts school, an arts theater and a film archive. All of the projects are meant to be income generating, so that rent and other overhead costs could be covered, and so that funds could be raised to support the preservation of our cultural arts in general, and the education of our young artists in particular.
As we tried to define the scope of our cultural arts, we realized that we should also include Filipino folk arts and Filipino martial arts, a decision that will surely lead us to a journey of discovery or rediscovery, as the case may be. At first glance, it is obvious that our folk arts should include all of our ethnic art and tribal arts, as well as our festival arts and church arts, the last two being closely intertwined.
The search for Filipino martial arts has become both fascinating and intriguing. So far, we have come across “dumog” and “buno”, two native forms of wrestling. We also came across “yo-yo” and “trompo”, both believed to be ancient weapons of war that have now become modern day toys. At some point, I realized that weapons of war are difficult to separate from the art forms, and this is the case of “arnis”, “balisong”, “latigo” and many others.
What started as an effort to preserve the costumes of the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Dance Company and the videos of Tanghalang Pilipino and Ballet Philippines has now grown into a cause that will democratize the opportunities for young artists, and will immortalize the role of Filipino women in art and society, the latter being an idea of Sister Mary John Mananzan of St. Scholastica’s College.
On the technical side, the project proponents will study the successful methods used by the Vargas Museum in preserving paintings, fabrics and artifacts through temperature control and humidity control, by way of computer chips. Luckily, these technologies are not alien to us, and there are volunteers who could help.
Tune in to KA IKING LIVE! 6 to 7pm Thursdays in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 8 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text to +639997333011. Visit www.senseneres.blogspot.com. Join Coffee Clutch Fridays
posted by Ike Señeres at 5:08 PM
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