Creativity Summit reaches out to the marginalized

03/12/2010

Aimed at addressing the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), in cooperation with the International Theater Institute (ITI), is currently holding the Creativity Summit on Kalahi Cultural Caregiving and a Short + Sweet Festival from March 10 to 15. It is a prelude to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meetings of culture and arts ministers and the Asean festival of the Arts.

Featuring harvests from Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao in dance, music, drama and film, the Creativity Summit brings together the marginalized sector of the society — the physically challenged, the frail and the elderly, the street children, prisoners, abused women, refugees of armed conflict and victims of climate change and disasters, among others — with special highlights on creativity in the Short + Sweet Festival.

Participating at the summit are Marilac Hills Center for Abused Women, Tahanang Walang Hagdan, the Elsie Gaches Village and the Ortho-Pedagogical Institute for Dance. Angklung Ensemble of Golden Acres, Nayon ng Kabataan (street children), Ambassadors of Light (a blind chorale group) with the Earthsavers Dream Ensemble and the String of Sampaguita from the National Bilibid Prisons will delight the audience with a musical production. The Government Internship Program, consisting of unemployed youth who are under the care of the Manila City Hall Youth Development Program, will perform “Sa Dalampasigan,” a 10-minute play about mature people who have lost hope and reason to continue living.

A visual arts exhibition will feature works of the sick such as the Brave Kids (cancer victims) and the Tagaytay Drug Rehab Center.

Two short films will be presented by Pili at Pino, a visual arts and film enthusiast group of marginalized youth from Manila. In line with this, there will also be an animation workshop to be conducted by Tuldok Animation Studios.

An exciting aspect of the summit is the Music Fusion, synergizing native instruments with indigenous and traditional voices and other creative sound makers with movement, dances and songs — mixing and matching, melding and interweaving the produce of each regional representation into one total theater performance.

Conducted nationwide, the Kalahi Cultural Caregiving program is in line with poverty alleviation program of President Gloria Arroyo aimed at achieving the eight UN MDGs. This program utilizes the Earthsavers Dreams Methodology which involves human resource development, eco-social rehabilitation and values education through the arts, media, sports and sciences. Its holistic approach underscores the therapeutic and participatory values derived from meaningful and relevant arts training that culminates in a showcase of talents in the field of visual arts, music, dance, theater arts, creative crafts, media and animation and broadcast modules.

The Short + Sweet Festival, on the other hand, features performances also from all over the country. From Luzon, there will be performances from the Tagbanuas and Palaweños and from the Baler Arts Academy with the Gawad Kalinga Tatalon Performing Arts. The Lihok Visayan contingent as well as the Tagum group, Tampaken Lum-Alay Cultural Dance Ensemble and the Bukidnon State University will be joining Luzon group.

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