Ligtas And Salvarita Usher Performance Art In Dumaguete

CEBU, Philippines - Two top performance artists from Cebu City and Bacolod come together to give Silliman University and Dumaguete a one-of-a-kind spectacle in the artform that has yet to take root and gain visibility in the city.

Russ Raniel Ligtas and Razceljan Luiz Salvarita come together in a unique collaboration titled “Russ/Raz: A Duet in Performance Art,” slated on 16 July 2010, Friday at 6 PM, at the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium Lobby. This event is open to the public for free.

Ligtas is a visual and performance artist who regularly performs with Cebu’s only performance art group XO?. His performances involve dance, costuming, and pop culture elements. He writes poetry and other creative text and is a member of the Cebuano writer’s group Bathalad Inc.

Salvarita, on the other hand, is a member of a family of artists based in Bacolod, but is now based in Dumaguete and Bali, Indonesia. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication at Silliman University, where he also later pursued a master’s degree in Environmental Policy. Razcel, perhaps Dumaguete’s fast-rising young visual artist is also a writer, a photographer, a performance artist, an environmental activist. He is best remembered as the person whose body was painted white and then who walked around Dumaguete semi-naked to call attention to his “Save the Balinsasayao Twin Lakes” campaign. He has also founded the collective art group Artantrum.

According to Prof. Diomar Abrio, the Cultural Officer of Silliman, “Performance art has become a mainstay in the world of art in general, but in terms of popular acceptance and visibility, it still has to take its roots in the world of art and culture in Dumaguete City. In that sense, Dumaguete is ripe for a good introduction into the best of local performance art, with Mr. Ligtas and Mr. Salvarita.”

For inquiries, please call Ian Rosales Casocot of the Silliman University Cultural Affairs Committee at (035) 422-6002 LOC. 520 or 09173235953.