National Arts Month

Today, February 1, marks the 13th annual celebration of National Arts Month. As the premier government institution for the preservation and propagation of traditional and contemporary art in the country, the National Commission on Culture and Arts is the greatest force in the celebrations. Their program determines the success or failure of the celebration.

The important thing about any national celebration is that it must be national. One of the things that we have never understood about the People's Power demonstrations that led to the downfall of Marcos is why the demonstrations were limited to EDSA. Why were there no similar demonstrations in the other main cities of Visayas, Mindanao, and, yes, even Luzon? We have noted the same phenomenon in many of our past national celebrations. This year National Arts Month will start with Kulturang Kalye, that will consist of an artistic parade and a mini fiesta in the Quezon City Hall Plaza. From there, it will move to Visayas Avenue, where art exhibits and contests will be held on every Saturday of February.

In Zambales, the celebration will emphasize the historical highlights of the province. It will be done by presenting a one-act play called Uyayi ng Dalampasigan. In Tayabas, Quezon, a town project will present a show called Salimbayan sa Tayabas. The thrust is to project its own unique cultural heritage. In Davao, the presentation will be a dance program that has been inspired by the painting of Ang Kiu Kok accompanied by a reading of poems by Davao writers and artists.

To spread the celebration, a musical performance by local and foreign artists combined with a film festival featuring film classics, both local and foreign will tour different parts of the country. And as the ultimate attempt of the National Commission on Art and Culture to bring ballet to the grassroots, different ballet groups will perform in the rural areas.

Again, we congratulate the NCCA for its efforts to make National Arts Month a meaningful occasion. But we would like to make a suggestion. To our mind, the best way to make National Arts Month truly meaningful is to involve the schools in the celebration. If all schools would have just one art program as their contribution to National Arts Month, it would first insure that the celebration was literally held all over the country. Second, they would be propagating art in the sector that needs it most – our youth. All schools have art programs. All this would entail is to make them coincide with February. Perhaps, next year, NCCA can give this suggestion a trial run. In fact, we feel certain that if the schools had been approached, they would have welcomed the idea. The NCCA should also concern itself with media. Television today is the biggest exponent of sex and violence. The NCCA should take steps to introduce artistic shows in TV. They can begin by having a regular art and culture program on TV.