Culture in the Country

Two things grabbed my attention today:
1) The Philippines is the ASEAN CULTURAL CAPITAL for 2010 and 2011
2) The film LOLA by Brillante Mendoza won in the Swiss Film Festival

I guess it's by no ordinary coincidence that these two developments took place.
Brillante Mendoza already won a Palm d'Or quite recently at the filmfest in Cannes in 2009. Some people hated "Kinatay", his entry to Cannes. But I guess it must have had some merit or he wouldn't have been awarded the coveted Palm. The first and only Filipino to have done so this far. He even eclipsed the works of Lino Brocka, Yshmael Bernal and Celso Ad. Castillo.

Now, the Philippines as ASEAN CULTURAL CAPITAL isn't a surprise either. We all know that we have a rich multi-disciplinary culture that spans ages. Even before our colonial history, we were appeasing our gods with song and dance... reaching up to the heavens with terraces that climbed upwards on the mountainsides... adorning our bodies with jewelry and other body art...writing heroic deeds in our own alphabet (baybayin) on bamboo slats... True, we may not have an Angkor Wat or a Borobodur for that matter, but the Rice Terraces in Banaue is 2,000 years old. I once led tourists around Manila and found out that they were Peruvian. At one point in our conversation, I expressed my desire to see Macchu Picchu. Guess what? Macchu Picchu only dates back to the 14th century. So as a cultural capital - we rock!



Even in modern times we led other asian nations in terms of our arts and culture. In 1969 when the Cultural Center of the Philippines was inaugurated, then First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, dreamed of having a permanent home where the Arts could flourish. Critics lambasted her... Her vision stands strong to this day... the CCP is now on its 40th year and proving to one and all that an institution outgrows the personalities that run it.

When street protests failed to foment change in the Marcos regime, the arts went underground and distinguished itself as a strong reform movement. Thus, artists were the very vocal in their critique of government but they did so in a roundabout manner. Behn Cervantes and Armida Siguion-Reyna were known supporters of the anti-Marcos government. Then came the likes of Lino Brocka, Yshmael Bernal, Rolando Tinio, Ela Luansing, Cecile Alvarez, Soxy Topacio, Anton Juan, F Sionil Jose were the more prominent activists at the time.

Ballet Philippines was a staunch supporter of the Cory movement in its heyday. As a gesture of support for the arts, Tita Cory did watch a matinee performance of her youngest daughter Kris dancing the Rigodon de Honor to Alice Reyes' choreography of the Filipinized version of The Nutcracker. She didn't finish the ballet and left after Kris' number. She had a distaste for anything related to the Marcosses. That, on the other hand, started Kris' career in showbiz i guess...

Anyway, the construction of the CCP became the benchmark for other ASEAN nations to follow suit. This prompted other nations to start their own cultural pursuits. The PICC is also another sterling example of how we set the bar for showcasing our arts and culture as well as our charm and graciousness in welcoming our guests.

Many Filipinos now are trying their darndest best to emulate other cultures especially with a barrage of foreign Asian acts like K-Pop... they try to whiten their skin with glutathione, wax their hair to make it spikey, and to top it all layer their clothing even at the height of summer...just to look like someone else, when here we are, when the rest of the world is trying so hard to emulate us...

What gives?