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Salingoy stages Rimpos Art-Lit exhibit

Bicol Mail

Salingoy Art Group, Inc., with the Naga City government as patron and partner, stages Rimpos Art-Literature Exhibit, a collaboration between Salingoy female visual artists and writers in honor of the celebration of Mothers’ Day 2013.

Rimpos (to nurture), came up as the name of the event as an appreciation and a tribute to the nurturing of Mother Earth and Mother Nature, of Ina, Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia, and the human (and non-human) mothers all over the world.

The art-lit exhibit opens at Naga Art Gallery, Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum on May 4, 2013 at 4 p.m.

A coffee table book, The Nurturing: Life Inspirations from Rimpos written by Eilyn L. Nidea, will also be presented. It contains short life sketches of the artists and writers, as well as the pictures of the paintings, and complete texts of the poems and essays showcased at the exhibit.

Artists involved are the following: Evelyn Calara, Avril Daja, Anne Daliva, Maricris F. Gomez, Micah DT. Hilotin, Lorna T. Margate, Grace Nieves, Ruth C. Perez, Sylene B. Sabino, and Lea N. Uvas.

Writers include Elbert O. Baeta, Catherine A. Dilao, Jerome M. Hipolito, Rosette V. Imperio, Jusan V. Misolas, Eilyn L. Nidea, Lourdes L. Nieva, Stephen Prestado, Rea P. Robles, Irmina V. Torres, and Pauline Mae Zenit.

Maria Magdamit of Albay is guest visual artist and sculptor, and also the curator of the exhibit.

This is for the benefit of Arteng Kaakian, a monthly free art workshop and feeding program for the street children of Naga City , in cooperation with Animo 64, Kabataang Barangay and Bikolanong Totoo.

Tickets for P25 each are available at the Naga Art Gallery, Naga City Hall, and ACTO Office.

Pre-viewing of paintings can be done from April 28-May 2, 2013, at the art gallery 2:00-5:00 in the afternoon. A painting can be reserved with a certain fee/amount.

SM City Naga fetes National Arts Month

Bicol Mail

In line with the celebration of the National Arts Month this February, SM City Naga, in coordination with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts  (NCCA)  spearheaded two big events here – the launching and screening of Thy Womb and the  Annual Pintakasi of the Literaturang Bikolnon.

Thy Womb, one of the masterpieces of 2009 Cannes Film Festival Best Director Brillante Mendoza was launched here on January 30 and had its special screening on January 31, the day the National Arts Month commenced to signal its month-long celebration.

The film is one of the eight official entries to the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival and has been invited to the 37th Toronto International Film Festival in September and the 17th Busan International Film Festival in October.

Brillante personally graced the said occasion in support of the Filipino film industry and gave the audience a chance to interact with him after the movie thru a Question and Answer portion. Thy Womb was simultaneously shown in all the SM cinemas.

Last Friday, February 15, SM City Naga brought another cultural activity at the SM Activity Center – the Pintakasi kan Literaturang Bikolnon 2013, a Southern Luzon Satellite event of the Taboan 2013: The 5th Philippine Writers Festival.

Carlos Arejola, together with Ms. Tina Sumayao of SM City Naga, and other members of the Organizing Committee welcomed the participants to the various activities which included Story telling session, poetry reading. The audience was indulged with the musical performance of the world acclaimed Baao Children’s Choir.

First anthology of Bicol fiction makes a buzz

By Juan Escandor Jr.
Bicol Mail

Hot off the press featuring 22 writers, the book “Hagong, Mga Osipon (Buzz, Fiction pieces)” which was launched last week at the Ateneo de Naga University (AdeNU)  made a buzz here for being the first anthology of Bicol fiction written in various dialects.

Prof. Paz Verdades M. Santos, who edited the mga osipon in tandem with Francisco V. Peñones Jr., hailed the collection of Bicol fiction as the first volume ever published in the 21stcentury.

Santos explained they adapted the term osipon for Bicol fiction which is the Bicol word for a tale, to tell, tell on, squeal, gossip, accuse, and complain about which was traced to the term used in the early 20th century of Bicol publication.

She said the resurgence of Bicol literature in the recent decade is characterized by a flood of rawitdawit (Bicol poems) with many books already published; however, there’s a dearth of osipon, she added.

“Several collections of poetry have been launched in less than a decade, but not one volume of good short stories in Bikol has appeared,” Santos observed.

Santos was a literature professor at the De La Salle University for 10 years and presently teaching at the Ateneo de Naga University. She is in the forefront of collecting Bicol literature pieces and publishing them into books which included “Hagkus Twentieth Century Bikol Women Writers (2003), “Maharang Mahamis na Literatura sa Mga Tataramon sa Bikol” (2010), and “Sagurong” (2011).

Santos said several osipon in the 183-page book have won awards and seen publication in school and local publications and the 22 osipon had been selected from more than 100 pieces submitted.

“Some are definitely worth critiquing and studying, and eventually translating and submitting to national and international anthologies to represent contemporary fiction in Bikol,” she added.

There are two stories in mythical forms that make use of local legends, four pieces in historical fiction, and the bulk of the stories deal with harsh social realities.

Peñones said the book title “Hagong” was chosen because he said these osipin will most likely resonate among Bicol readers who will recognize their own stories in the collection.

Bernadette T. Dayan, chair of AdeNU’s literature and language studies department, said the stories provide significant pieces of experience helpful for the new generation to understand the entire sphere of Bicol spirit.

“Hagong” is published by Ateneo de Naga University Press headed by Fr. Wilmer Tria.