Earth, art, and water

What’s art got to do with earth preservation?

“Art is a very potent medium to educate our public towards the need to protect our environment,” declares Nestor Jardin, president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), at a press conference on the yacht Spirit of Manila. Art heralds this year’s International Earth Day celebrated today, April 22, with festivities in this part of the world sponsored by the CCP in cooperation with the Haribon Foundation, Winner Foundation, and GMA 7. Fittingly tagged as “Agos: Earth Day 2008, ”The event will focus on issues of water conservation and measures against water pollution.      

With the slogan “Tubig — Buhay Natin, Ating Pagyamanin” as its theme, Earth Day at the CCP will be celebrated with a slew of water-friendly activities. The highlight of the day will be the Dragon Boat Regatta (“Laot”), featuring 800 members of the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation, among them awarded athletes from the Philippine Rowing Team. The regatta will mark a combination of two indigenous Filipino rituals: the Maranao, which offers the bounty of the land to the sea, and the Parau, or the unfurling of colorful sails.

Chris Millado, associate artistic director for the CCP’s performing arts department, explains the environmental significance of the dragon boats. According to ancient legend, a Chinese scholar attempted to drown himself in the ocean as a protest against corruption; thankfully, a group of dragon boats sailed out to rescue him in time. “So, in our version, the dragon boats go out to sea to save our environment,” says Millado. “It is a race to save our environment.”

Earth Day at the CCP is a 12-hour affair from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., beginning with the broadcast of a water advocacy video via electronic billboard, accompanied by the National Anthem. This will be followed by musical performances, most notably a Paul Morales-choreographed piece christened “Avian Respite,” after the migratory birds seen nesting at the CCP’s lagoon. Head of theater operations Ariel Yuzon notes, “At one time, I actually saw a couple of larks lingering about.” This underscores Earth Day’s aims at biodiversity and environmental conservation — as does the message in the final dance number of the opening ceremony: a rendition of The Lion King’s “Circle of Life.”

A cleanup of the CCP grounds by employees and stakeholders follows. “Different groups will be given brooms, pails of water, and dustpans, and be deployed to their different areas in the complex,” explains Yuzon.

Another cleanup — this time of the Manila Bay — will be undertaken by organizations such as the Manila Yacht Club, Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, Department of Tourism, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation, as well as the Singaporean Embassy. “The more people that use the bay for these kinds of purposes, (the more) it is a sign of the healthiness of the bay,” observes Millado.

The public will also be treated to Jomike Tejido’s one-man exhibit of banig paintings, called “Under a Woven Canopy,” at the Pasilyo Vicente Manansala. A photo contest and exhibition entitled “Aninaw: Water for Life” will also be held at the Little Theater lobby, with the winners to be announced on the same day.

A forum, “Patubig,” will feature the information side of this year’s Earth Day celebration. First Secretary of the Singaporean Embassy Raymond Chow will preside at the forum and, according to Jardin, “give a presentation of the success story of Singapore as far as water management is concerned.” The CCP will also use the forum as a launch pad for its new-and-improved water management program, adapted to the environmental changes and advances in modern-day Manila. “It is useless for the CCP to be advocating and promoting environmental protection if we do not practice it ourselves,” says Jardin.

A film festival hosted by the Creative Media and Film Society of the Philippines (CreaM) at the CCP’s Dream Theater will showcase environmentally-centered movies from the Moonrise Festival, the only festival in the country that screens and advocates “green” films.

Coming full circle, the last hour of Earth Day 2008 will highlight “Buhos,” a special performance of Philippine traditional water rituals by native Ifugaos. Highlighting the effective and efficient use of water, the performance will also feature the natives’ construction of an irrigation system beginning at the CCP fountain lagoon area and continuing into various sectors of the verdant complex.

“Our ancestors regarded water as essential to the lives of Filipinos,” shares Jardin. What is hoped to be gained from the efforts of this year’s Earth Day is quite in the same regard.