Painting contest on migration to Hawaii launched

The National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) and Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) launched yesterday a painting competition to commemorate the centennial celebration of the Filipino migration to Hawaii.

The NCCA and CFO tied up with private group Art Association of the Philippine (AAP) to host the "100 Years of Filipino Migration to Hawaii Mural Painting Competition," which is being held in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Maricel Diaz, NCCA-International Affairs Office project development officer, said the painting competition is part of the "year-long celebration of the event that marks the arrival of the first wave of Filipino immigrants to Hawaii."

Other projects included a stamp design competition and a literary contest.

Golda Myra Roma, CFO Planning Research and Policy Office director, said the migration is important because of the number of Filipinos who have made Hawaii their second home.

Next to California, Hawaii has the most number of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans (Fil-Ams) residing in the States.

"Almost 24 percent of the residents of Hawaii are Filipinos or Fil-Ams. When you go to Hawaii, about a third of the 24 percent are Ilocanos so they speak Ilocano, Filipino and English," Roma said.

Since Dec. 20, 1906 when the ship Doric docked at Honolulu carrying 15 Filipinos, including one carrying a fighting cock, there are now 276,000 Filipinos in the Aloha State. There is an estimated 2.7 million Filipinos residing in the US.

Roma said some of them have gone on to become distinguished members of society. Former Hawaii Governor Benjamin Cayetano was recognized as being the highest US government official of Filipino ancestry. There are also a lot of entrepreneurs, of Filipino descent, who have set up their own businesses, and there are also those who have received international fame as singers such as Jasmine Trias.

The Hawaiians have also assimilated the fondness of Filipinos for fiestas and have started celebrating their own fiestas.

It is because of the 100 years of friendship between the Filipinos and the America that the organizers decided to hold commemorative projects such as the mural painting contest. This is open to all Filipino artists aged 18 years old and above.

The artwork entries must be painted on canvass measuring 30 inches by 45 inches and mounted box type or museum wrap in flat black. The artist should use oil acrylic as his or her medium. Computer-generated and mixed media art will be disqualified.

The originality of the piece is also essential, and is in fact one of the main criteria for judging, apart from relevance to the theme and visual impact.

Entries can be submitted to the Kanlungan ng Sining AAP near the National Library. The deadline of submission is on Aug. 12.

The grand prize winner will receive P300,000 and a plaque, while the five Juror’s Choice winners will each receive P50,000 and plaques. The 20 finalists will each be given special prizes and plaques.

The grand prize mural would be permanently exhibited at the Filipino Community Center in Hawaii.

Last November, Honolulu Mayor Muliufi Francis Hanneman visited the country for three days and personally invited Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and the business community to visit their trade expo that would run from Dec. 13 to 16 this year to mark the centennial celebration of the Filipino immigration to Hawaii.

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle made a follow-up trip last January and brought with her a delegation of Polynesian dancers who performed at the Baywalk along Roxas Boulevard.