Vernissage
Merging the digital and physical planes, BAGUIO’S IBAGIW CREATIVE FESTIVAL enables the art scene to thrive, inviting many to breathe and find healing amid the global crisis
Baguio's art scene is alive and kicking with the Ibagiw Creative Festival; Leeroy New paints stories of—and around—the Pasig River
Time seemed to slow down as the world experienced lockdowns because of the pandemic. As people stayed indoors, life drastically changed. Gone are the bustle of cities and days brimming with appointments and deadlines. In a way, the quarantine helped some people breathe. And, as they spent more time with family and in pursuing passions, creativity flourished.
The art scene in Baguio followed a similar narrative. The city’s annual Ibagiw Creative Festival pushed through in November 2020, celebrating creativity, culture, and tradition of crafts and folk arts. Mounting the festival grew from a need. People wanted to breathe, points out Marie Venus Tan, so why not breathe in Baguio?
A former Regional Director of the Department of Tourism for the Cordilleras and the current Ibagiw Festival 2020 director, Tan says that that became the theme of the event’s third staging. “We breathe inspiration, we breathe innovation,” she continues, “We can't be trifled by all of this. We need to learn to live with it.”
“Staging all these is really part and parcel of hope for our people because, in this time of quarantine and the pandemic, creativity is a form of hope”
CREATIVITY CONTINUES
Staging the festival was a challenge in the pandemic. “We said it should be 70-30; mostly on the digital platform,” Tan explains. There is a need for the physical presence for artisans to learn through lectures and hands-on workshops, and to create jobs to help jumpstart the economy. “Baguio is a tourist destination and certainly a lot of our crafts and artwork provide the impetus for economic upliftment for our people,” she adds.
Following COVID-19 safety guidelines, the festival took a multivenue approach: from Dominican Hill to the forests and areas in the city, people viewed and experienced fascinating artworks and installations. There was Art in the Park, a Woodcarving Competition, the exhibit for contemporary arts, the Forest Bathing Trail in Camp John Hay, Children’s Storybooks on Weaving, and the Mandeko Kito (an Ibaloy term for “let us sell”) Artisanal Market on weekends.
LIVING WITH ART
For Baguio to be part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creatives Network since 2017 is an incredible prestige. When Tan was Regional Director, she knew the importance of reviving the summer capital for what it is. “I felt that having to be known as a creative city would spell a new branding as far as tourism is concerned,” she recalls. “Being a creative city would mean the creative economy can be a catalyst for economic recovery and alleviation of poverty. That was the goal.”
As a well-known tourist destination in the country, Baguio is home to indigenous woven textiles, stunning woodworks, mesmerizing paintings, and jewelry rich in tradition. Thus, it is no surprise for Baguio to be the first city in the Philippines designated as the UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts and the fifth among Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
For four years now, the goals remain to elevate the art scene and to be the Arts Capital in Southeast Asia. Partnering with the Department of Tourism and the Department of Trade and Industry, the city opened tours to art spaces and creative centers throughout the year. From restaurants and cafés with galleries, gastronomic journeys, to homes open for garden crawls, there is much art to experience. Staging all these, Tan says, “is really part and parcel of hope for our people because in this time of quarantine and [the] pandemic… creativity is a form of hope.”
TRANSLATING TRADITIONS
In this technology-dominated age, sustaining traditions is increasingly difficult. After all, the present day carries tastes, interests, and demands for the arts that are different from those of the time when many of these crafts started.
Tan views this as an opportunity for the Ibagiw Creative Festival, and she spells out three objectives that they set out in launching the event: One, to give opportunities for our artisans and artists for their crafts to be highlighted. Second, to give these products mileage in terms of salability and innovation. Third, to give Baguio another dimension to its marketability.
The festival and the pandemic spurred a realization, one where “people now look at tradition becoming a viable norm toward their personal upliftment,” Tan says. There is strength in developing the arts, an opportunity for artists to renew their cultural identity. “Their [crafts have] created so much economic opportunities such that the younger ones now see value in who they are, and what really sells.”
The clamor of and nature of the festival encourages the younger generation to involve themselves in the craft. “They're now looking at technology to search their own identity and make sure that their identity becomes translated into creativity,” Tan elaborates. “This is something that is heartwarming for most of us because it's now turning in a more positive direction.”
“Baguio is a tourist destination and certainly a lot of our crafts and artwork provide the impetus for economic upliftment for our people”
BEYOND CREATION
Meeting the demands of today while preserving tradition is the challenge of younger artists. Creating art entails finding the right platform for exposure, inviting more people to appreciate their products. Beyond local galleries, Tan says the artists are reaching out to the national and international scene. “I think the way they look at it is not only an expression of their own creativity, but certainly toward creating economic prosperity,” she reflects.
The digital landscape, particularly social media, bridges the gap between artists and audiences. The distribution of these works is a crucial part of the process. The Ibagiw Creative Festival reaffirms this together with the Baguio Arts and Crafts Collectives Inc. (BACCI), the organization helping artists learn to be entrepreneurs as well. “They're not just there to produce but make sure that they know how to sell their products,” Tan clarifies.
FROM VIEWING TO HEALING
Marketing products may be essential, but it all trickles down to the healing nature of art. When one walks through Baguio now, spaces are teeming with displays of creativity. All these bring a sense of renewal and stillness—what people need the most in these tumultuous times. Tan believes “the expression of creativity is good for the soul… It provides hope for many people.”
As long as the art scene thrives, people are able to breathe and center themselves again. The arts remain as wellsprings of strength, hope, peace, and above all, life.