SUSTAINING OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE - ARTipolo Group Partnered with National Commission for Indigenous People (NCIP-MIMAROPA)

On 24th of December 2022, ARTipolo Group visited the office of NCIP Region 4B (MIMAROPA) to discuss 2023's project collaboration. Both parties have the same interest, which is to protect and promote the rights of the indigenous cultural communities. The indigenous people (IP) communities sustained our local culture and creative legacies despite the massive influences brought in by Chinese, Spaniards, Americans, and other nationalities that came to our land. Other than that, they have tilled and protected many of our frontiers and natural resources - national parks and tourist spots.

The provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan make up MIMAROPA. There are 21 Indigenous People Communities in these provinces. The 21 IPs' cultures, goods, and means of subsistence will be highlighted and presented by NCIP-MIMAROPA and ARTipolo in several events and exhibitions. The major goal of the project is to assist them in figuring out how to market their goods and services to eco-tourists. The first collaboration would happen on March 2023 by participating in an international event called "Green Travel Mart" which was initiated by Dr. Mina Gabor.  Other than ARTipolo, there will be other partners and collaborators, but the beneficiaries would be the IPs of MIMAROPA.

The meeting was attended by representatives from ARTipolo's board and NCIP-MIMAROPA. From ARTipolo, present during the meeting are Mr. Pol Mesina, Jr. (ARTipolo President), Mr. Mark Joseph Belloria, Ms. Eleanor Habal Robleza, and Ms. Mary Rose Gob. From NCIP-MIMAROPA, it was attended by Regional Director Mary Grace Pascua, Doc Din Mabanta, and Engr. Ysmael Fontanilla.

Action plans were drafted, and succeeding meetings will seal this partnership.  During the said meeting, RD Pascua awarded ARTipolo with the coffee table books published by NCIP.  These will serve as references for the artists to capture the essence of MIMAROPA's 21 indigenous communities through paintings and other visual forms of art.  If you are interested to avail the series of coffee table book, you may contact NCIP at https://ncip.gov.ph/, and inquire about Project Epanaw - The Journey of Our Indigenous Peoples.

  

   

  

 

It was indeed a fruitful discussion and it paved the way for more ideas and events that would support the indigenous people.  Hopefully, as we join hands together, we will be able to document our cultural heritage for the benefit of the next generations.

We welcome comments for ideas and volunteers if you are interested to be part of similar projects.

AFFORDABLE SATURDAY ART CLASSES - MEET OUR CASCADE KIDS

I woke up excited this Saturday morning as this would be the very 1st Face-to-Face Saturday Art Classes that we will have since 2019.  We were supposed to launch the 1st class on March 2019, but pandemic occur.  We were not able to launch our school and the author just continued developing programs and learning materials for our website.  You will find useful lessons through our Free Art Lesson tab.  

Learning on your own, without a mentor or someone to critique your work is difficult.  As a learner, you would appreciate the guidance of an art teacher.  Though art maybe innate for our children, having a teacher speeds up the process of learning.

We always wanted to develop the skills of children and adults in creative arts.  But many of the offered classes are quite expensive.  And so we tried to trim down the cost of having a class by taping our friends to share their abode as venue for classes.  Luckily, Ms. Leslie Esternon helped us by opening her doors for our learners.  

The families or the parents will also spend more buying art materials.  But as a learned artist, we know that it is very essential to understand our materials first before we buy expensive branded products when we can secure less expensive art materials through bulk orders.  This is one of our strategies to lower the cost of the classes.  Thus, as part of our two-days session, we already added the handouts, drawing materials and the 2-days workshop session at Leslie's place.  

The first live class started on October 22, 2022, 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.  We had 10 students, four of which are teenagers and six are from age 8 to 10 years old.  The younger children are guided by Ate Rose and the teens are guided by Lolo Rey.  It was fun and they were given assignments so that they will be able to learn practice what they learned.  Here are some of the shots for the 1st day...