Manila to host Gallery of the Sea

The world famous sunset of Manila Bay will bear witness to a dazzling display of cultural activity on Friday as winning artists transform boat sails into canvasses of their art in an on-the-spot painting contest.

The event, dubbed as the "Gallery of the Sea," is a unique outdoor display of sailboat art jointly sponsored by the Arts Association of the Philippines (AAP) and the Manila Yacht Club in cooperation with Earthsavers.

It is being supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The "Gallery of the Sea" is a reprise of a pioneering sailboat painting contest held in 2002, which was then conceptualized by Earthsavers chairman and former Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez.

A highly successful event, it attracted some of the best Filipino artists who transformed sails into works of art.

The entries were later exhibited in Boracay, Bohol and Johannesburg in South Africa during the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development. Winning entry "Oceans" was submitted by Fidel Sarmiento, now AAP president. He won P25,000 for his work and a $5,000 cash allowance when he went to Johannesburg to exhibit his painting.

For this year, the paintings were grouped into three categories: Salvation, Destruction and Pristine State. Each painting shall have a title and a slogan which depict the artists’ entries.

Last Saturday, some 30 artists of various art clubs put their ideas on sails in an activity held at Luneta, where NCCA executive director Cecile Guidote-Alvarez gave a short inspirational speech.

The NCCA provided the canvasses and materials for the contest, while the AAP provided the artistic personnel, direction and materials preparation.

The Earthsavers and the DENR will conduct orientation, and, together with NCCA and UNACOM, will provide the prizes and the artists’ honoraria.

Nine finalists were chosen to vie for the grand prizes, which will be awarded at the Manila Yatch Club on Friday.

They are Serafin Maddela, Lynyrd Arwyn Paras, Samuel Penaso, Demosthenes Campos, Florence Cinco, Jeffrey Samonte, Joey Cobcobo, Ernesto Patricio and Aner Sebastian.

The winners, who will receive a total of P60,000, including medals and certificates of participation, shall be judged on their visual impact and interpretation.

The board of judges is composed of noted artists Fil de la Cruz, Manuel Valdemor and Virgilio Aviado.

The winning artworks will be presented to foreign delegates as an added feature of the 31st International Theater Institute-United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (ITI-Unesco) Intercultural World Congress and Theater Olympics of the Nations, which the Philippines is hosting from May 16 to 29.

The World Congress, to be attended by delegates of the world’s top theater artists and drama schools, will be presided by Unesco director general Koichiro Matsuura.

Alvarez said The Gallery of the Sea is envisioned as a vivid Philippine model of how arts can be utilized to operationalize the UN Decade of Education and Sustainable Development. – Nestor Etolle