A Rejoinder to Festival Organizers Frugality By Any Other Name
A Rejoinder to Festival Organizers
Frugality By Any Other Name
By Cesare A.X. Syjuco
Published in: The Manila Times, October 17, 1987
FRUGALITY is becoming more and more synonymous with survival. And the genuinely frugal among us have elevated the pursuit of this quality to very nearly a religion.
This early, for instance, hardboiled hecklers are already raising questions about the wisdom of hosting an "international festival of ethnic and traditional cultures" here in Manila. What lasting benefit, they ask, could we possibly derive from such a festival? Are not international festivals — like regional expositions and world's fairs — the expensive playthings of prosperous and stable countries? Is this not tantamount to reverting to the old Marcosian penchant for international showboating or "palabas"? Did we not once cry ourselves hoarse over the Manila International Film Festival?
We can begin by presuming, of course, that being only too aware of our meager resources, our government would never consent to hosting such a festival without a commitment from abroad for financial assistance in this undertaking. But even so, critics will doubtless argue that a project of these proportions will require at least some expenditures on our part - in other words, money that we have kept from our own artists in the name of hard times.
An art critic does well to know his place, leaving matters of national concern to those whose business it is to debate such issues. What can be said for the moment, however, is that frugality implies not only a stoic determination not to spend, but also a certain wiliness about getting the most for your money whenever spending it becomes necessary.
It would be no less timely to remind the organizers of this proposed festival, therefore, that in the visual arts, an energetic new wave of dedicated painters and sculptors is even now focused on the exciting possibilities that our ethnic and indigenous sources have to offer by way of material. It is precisely in such areas of concern that much of our attention should be trained, at least in consonance with the veneration of old bones.
Song, dance and drama are in no way to be scoffed at. But the case for the visual arts is clear - clear enough, at any rate, to plead itself. Much of our own traditional iconography survives only in diluted popular form, as exportoriented handicrafts reworked and stylized for the foreign and tourist markets. It is sad to think that our people's only contact with the objectification of their indigenous roots is based on cheap curios and pulp-paper facsimiles. And sadder still that the distinctions have been obscured and virtually eroded, and that it has become increasingly difficult for Filipinos to tell handicraft from heritage.
An accompanying comprehensive exhibition of cultural artifacts would be of immense value. But even more valuable in both a popular and developmental sense would be a large-scale exhibition of contemporary Philippine artworks in the indigenous mold.
Such an exhibition would cost us precious little to organize, and if presented in the context of an international festival, would give our visual artists immeasurable exposure, motivation and public recognition. It is one thing to make our people aware of the richness of their cultural past, born as it is of the urgent need to inspire pride-in-self and a sense of national identity. But it is equally inspiring for our people to see the limitless potential of their past in the forging of brave new directions.
If that isn't more for our money, there's just no telling what is.
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Cesare A.X. Syjuco, “A Rejoinder to Festival Organizers Frugality By Any Other Name” (page 1 of 1), The Manila Times, October 17, 1987
