Today, more than ever, people are turning to art to express their anxieties, escape the current situation or to better understand it. Creativity has been a way to reach out and connect to more people, the youth and the marginalized included.
With this, the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) is currently conducting their first online arts festival, which began on September 19 and will continue until December 10.
youth a voice through art.
Called the Festival of Windows, it lets more people have access to windows of creativity, imagination, and connection, as well as dialogue, introspection, and creating meanings. The three-month long festival has the theme of being “locked but linked,” and will be conducting performances, webinars, and workshops.
“In these times of uncertainty and disconnection, we need the arts to unlock our courage amidst adversities and to help us transform spaces of loss into spaces of hope and resilience. The arts link us, build communities, and forge solidarity by promoting social well-being, cohesion, and inspired collective action,” PETA Executive Director Beng Santos-Cabangon expressed.
Peta President CB Garrucho believes that the youth are important in the arts, especially during their formative years. In fact, most of the theater company’s current employees and artists have started working with Peta since their youth.
As such, they have continued their partnership with less fortunate communities and provinces — namely Bataan, Cavite, Pampanga, Batangas, Infanta, Bicol, and Antique aside from Metro Manila — to help young people know more about healthy yet creative expression.
“Ang iba talaga sa kanila challenged na challenged. They don’t even have cell phones, they have to borrow, they have to go on Messenger [as this is the only communication app most people are familiar with] and yet, how driven they are, how passionate they are, to want to tell their stories. If youth from the cities see how despite challenges, other fellow young people are striving so hard to come together to be able to reach out and tell their stories — paano pa kaya yung ibang kabataan na mas okay naman yung kalagayan nila. So we get the youth to get strength from each other,” Garrucho related.
“That’s why we find it very important to address a festival for young people to see how creative they can [remain] despite all the challenges that can be thrown their way. We have to take care of the youth and to get strength for young people who are really challenged but their creative spirit cannot be stopped,” the theater veteran continued.
With the conclusion of the first festival titled, “Sulyap Kabataan Playlist” from September 19 to 26, the next festival the youth can participate in is “3G Connect,” which will be held on October 10, 11, and 17. The festival’s name is a play on the three concepts of galing — pinang-galingan, galing, and pag-galing. It aims to build stronger and more resilient communities that value human rights, wellness, and safety.
With a special focus on change, rights, and democracy, the festival will have a number of keynote speakers and performances. Performers include Ebe Dancel, Noel Cabangon, and Pepe Herrera. Spoken word artist Juan Miguel Severo will speak on the value of advocacies of Lingap Sining on human rights and democracy; Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray has a message on mental health; and actor and cultural advocate Enchong Dee will give an inspirational message. Creative outputs include spoken word poetry, dance, and music videos.
The third festival is Arts Zone Start by the Peta Arts Zone Project. It is a quest to create safe spaces for children, as the company saw the abuse and increasing threat to their rights due to the pandemic. Participants will be trained to be “Positive Disciplined (PD) ArtVocates,” to express themselves and to be advocates of child safety, protection, and positive discipline.
The final festival is Kalinlangan Ensemble — Performers Overcoming a Pandemic, or Ke-Pop. From November 23 to December 10, PETA’s performing arm will be conducting online performances where their resident artists are able to express and create stories relevant to the times. This is also a way to introduce their actors and give them work and training.
There will be five new works featuring artists and partner communities, whereas some of their old works like “Care Divas,” and “1896,” will be streamed.
The new performances are “Maskian,” a dance piece that explores Asian masks all the way to the surgical face mask; “Harinawa,” the story of two mothers searching for their sons who were victims of extrajudicial killings; “Finding Z,” which will discuss the mental issues of young people during the lockdown; and “Work From Home,” a piece that explores how virtual meetings are crossing private lines.
For the complete list of offerings, visit PETA’s Official Facebook page, PETA Theater.