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Nobility of spirit
The contents of just one of those infamous Rimowa suitcases would have enabled at least 30 artists and cultural workers to pursue fellowships, apprenticeships and advance studies in the US or around Asia, enhancing their education and training and fostering valuable exchanges with fellow arts practitioners. As anomalies in practically every agency of government continue to be uncovered, we turn to the artists to remind us that nobility of spirit and integrity of purpose are still possible.
Last Saturday, the Asian Cultural Council Philippines celebrated its 25th anniversary and not even the threat of an impending super typhoon could dampen the pride and joy of the occasion. As a partner foundation, ACCP funds grants given every year to Filipino arts practitioners, so far numbering 170, out of the over 400 grants given to Filipino artists since Jose Joya in 1967, under John D. Rockefeller III’s Asian Cultural Program (later renamed Asian Cultural Council), established in 1963 to “enhance knowledge of other cultures…as a means to a further end – through knowledge and respect for other cultures we come to respect and appreciate the peoples themselves.”
Joya received another grant in 1969, also the year Alice Reyes headed to New York to discover the world of contemporary and modern dance. Both went on to become National Artists, the highest honor bestowed by the Philippine government (Joya for visual arts, Reyes for dance). Seven other ACC grantees have become National Artists: Jose Maceda (music), Lucrecia Kasilag (music), Lamberto Avellana (film), Alejandro Roces (literature), Francisco Feliciano (music), Ramon Santos (music) and Kidlat Tahimik (film).
The formidable task of raising funds for these grants falls on ACCP’s indefatigable Board of Trustees, now headed by Honorary Chair Liza Araneta Marcos (who has actually been a trustee since 2013 and, even now, faithfully attends board meetings) and founding chair Ernest Escaler (he who pioneered the organic salad bar as a way of life and healthy eating from his Gourmet Farms and Café in Silang, Cavite).
As with many foundations, fund raising is always a challenge, and ACCP is no different. ACC Philippine director Teresa Rances tells us it is a constant concern, as more funds mean more grants can be awarded. Their efforts are obviously paying off, as from three to four grants per year when it started out, ACCP awarded nine grants last year and eight this year.
Further, ACCP has embarked on setting up a substantial endowment fund, hefty enough to ensure that its work continues. Thus, fund raising is a major never-ending undertaking – from art auctions to benefit dinners to outright donations from high net worth supporters, many of whom were present at the anniversary celebration held at the Foro de Intramuros (if I were a social columnist I would list their names, and what a list it would be!).
The after dinner (catered by Amado Fores, following his late mother Gaita’s innovative use of local ingredients) show “Sky Islands” embodied the spirit of vibrant cultural exchange that is at the heart of the ACC. The main event was an excerpt of the Asian premiere of “Sky Islands” by 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Music winner and ACC grantee Susie Ibarra, featuring the Manila Symphony Orchestra String Quartet, pianist Alex Peh, percussionist Teresa Montes, flutist Tony Maigue and ARDP dancers Monica Gana and Ejay Arisola in choreography by Erl Sorilla.
The show also included an excerpt from Ibarra’s “Pasig River,” a rendition of Nicanor Abelardo’s “Mutya ng Pasig” (both by soprano Rachelle Gerodias) and a haunting duet on the tong-ali nose flute (played by Maigue) and the kubing jaw harp (by Ibarra).
Making the show that much more meaningful was that 20 ACC grantees led the team that put the show together, from performers to technical staff to directors and designers. The tables were adorned with the metal sculptures of Sam Penaso and Dex Fernandez’s signature Garapata, a “playful yet critical lens on society’s ‘socio-psycho-delic’ landscape.” And hung throughout the cavernous venue were Aze Ong’s crochet artworks, breathtaking in their intricacy and size (one piece measures 20x20x20 feet, another 60x6x6 feet), amazing in that she follows no patterns or preconceived designs (even for the dress she wore that evening), truly a “journey of alignment among soul, heart, mind and body.” Most of the artworks were sold by the end of the evening.
Through the years ACC grants (to date, over 6,000 across 26 countries and regions in 16 artistic disciplines) have expanded beyond the visual arts, dance, literature and music to include arts administration, archeology, film, photography, installation and new media art, scholarship and “other fields that defy categorization.”
Last year, for example, Peter John Natividad undertook a three-month fellowship to Japan to observe and study ways to protect cultural artifacts against earthquakes and other natural disasters. Focusing on areas affected by the Hanshin quake of 1995 and the Sendai quake of 2011, his program initially covered nine museums, but expanded to 56 museums and 30 other cultural heritage sites, monuments, galleries and cultural centers.
Each program is tailored to the grantee’s objectives, and grantees in their applications propose organizations they want to visit or study in, experts they want to train under; ACC makes the arrangements and offers other possibilities to enhance the grantees’ experience. Barbara Tan-Tiongco’s 2002 ACC grant for technical direction led her to internships at the American Dance Festival at Duke University and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she met the iconic lighting designer Jennifer Tipton. Another ACC grant in 2009 enabled her to intern with Tipton, joining her company’s tours to France. Sitting in on Tipton’s classes at Yale University, she was eventually accepted, on full scholarship, for a three-year MFA program.
Today, Tan-Tiongco is the country’s foremost technical director, putting all that experience to work on stages and venues all over the country (including gymnasiums and town plazas), always cognizant of local conditions – primarily very limited budgets – and making ingenious use of locally available materials.
ACC global chair and also ACCP trustee Josie Cruz Natori got it exactly right when she said that our country’s biggest asset is the creative genius of the Filipino and that this must be nurtured and cultivated. ACCP has been doing just that for the last quarter century, and hopefully for the next 25 and 25 more years.
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