Celebrate art at the BGC Arts Center Festival from November 24 to 26

The Bonifacio Art Foundation, Inc. (BAFI) rings in the country’s prolific artists to celebrate the BGC Arts Center Festival, a three-day event that features the works of various artists in the performing and visual arts from November 24 to 26. The event is entitled “Champions of Passion: Soulful Feats of Art.”

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The program aims to uplift artistic endeavors throughout the Philippines. It will also be held alongside the yearly Passionfest celebration along Bonifacio High Street.

The November festival will feature “Passion Eyepiece” experiences in two artistic aspects—the performing arts and the visual mural arts.

Murals fueled by passion

The first Passion Eyepiece feature eye-catching murals that line the façades of nine building surfaces in BGC. These murals depicting various themes were done by individual artists and artist groups – most of them, PINTO artists, and one mural was a collaboration of foreign and local talent. All murals clearly served as icons of passion.

The new murals’ varied themes capture this passion: for journeys bound for home, for special meeting places, for technology, for dreams, and for other people who help us in everyday life.

Artist Solana Perez captures playful transport dreams with horses, circles and spirals in the mural “The Way Home.”

Helping one another is captured in the mural entitled “Kapit Kamay” by Biskeg Pangasinan Artist Collective.

“Dating Tagpuan” by artist John Paul Antido conveys old meeting places. With two joining walls serving as a canvas, the artwork is placed in the junction of the space to create the impression of the characters meeting each other.

“Tree House” by artists Jerson Samson & Janica Rina allow people to detach themselves from the concrete congested environment.

Technology inspired artist group Palimpsest whose mural “For the People: Gates of Paradise” expresses the movement of civilization toward the uncertain future.

To further add to this lineup of inspiring works, one mural was a collaboration made by artists from South Korea and ASEAN countries. This was initiated by the Korean Cultural Center as they partnered with the National Commission for Culture and Arts, and the Bonifacio Art Foundation, to visualize a “merging” that represents the friendship across borders.

The performing arts take the stage

To complement the murals, another Passion Eyepiece to be held at the BGC Arts Center features performing arts to show audiences passion embodied in human movement and sounds.

Taguig-goers can watch two separate performances by STEPS Dance Studio: one animated by young choreographers and the other, to the timeless music of STING, entitled “I Got Stung”. The Silangan Chamber Guitar Ensemble and the Ateneo Chamber Singers will play the music that scales the highs and lows of our lives—“Lupa ng Araw”.

Various plays and musicals will be held on topics such as life and love: how whimsical mischief yields real-life lessons in “The Glitter Trap” by Upstart Productions; 2013 Pulitzer-prize winning drama on how politics shapes personal identity in “Disgraced” by Twin Bill Theater; how passion for a traditional delicacy deals with the imperative of change in “Maria, Ang Binibini ng Bibingka” by Make Believe Productions; “after-life” perplexities revealed in ‘Waiting Area” by Antrosininglaya Theatre Company; “Tao Po”, a monologue on the affirmation of humanity by Juana Change; and, refreshing experimental theatre with “Two is Bitter Than One” by Ampalaya Monologues X Una Productions.

Immerse in love’s twists and turns in “BisRock: Gugmang Giatay” by Cebu-based 2 Tin Cans Philippines; the many faces and masks of love in “Ricky Lee’s Para Kay B” by Tabsing Kolektib; and an original musical “My Suite Princess” by community theatre group BGC Passion Collective.

Children and their families can also look forward to a range of activities that will help them develop their appreciation for the arts. The list includes participative storytelling and art workshops by My Masterpiece Movement in 2 sets: Artful Retellings of Timeless Tales, a Wizard of Oz-inspired sand-art performance and an Alice-in-Wonderland inspired shadow play performance.

SPIT Manila offers an improv performance. Likewise, Third World Improv will hold an improv workshop. Other art skills can also be honed through live art workshops offered by Pens N Brushes Philippines, a watercolor workshop by Alessa Lanot, and a paper-cutting workshop by Mary Joy Roxas.