True to each surf culture, Bagasbas Beach in Daet,Camarines Norte hosts another cool event-the first Bagasbas Eco-arts Festivals. LOURD de VEYRA hits the waves
MORE THAN five months,ago, Joaquin Palencia was standing on the Bagasbas beachfront, a surfer's haven in Daet, Camarines norte in the Bicol.Palencia has lived in this place all his life,but the realization came like sudden flash of enlightment; this place is absolutely beautiful.
Even before Palencia's realization of his hometown's natural beauty,
Daet has been attracting some following ,already--some of the local surfer' have competed in international competition.Daet's are said to be conducive for elementary -surfers, as they roll only in gentle, relatively manageable mid-size heights.
Lining the periphery of Bagasbas beach are inns, bars, restaurants, and even a surfer-themed pizza house with decent offerings ,. local residents tend to gravitate to the beach in the mornings, when the sun is gentle, or just hang around the breakwater with some snacks during weekends,enjoying the breeze and the view. You can bring your own surfboard or you can bring or rent one.
It is hard to ignore daet's postcard-pretty sunrises,the wide beach with relentless waves rolling in from the pacific. Palencia's thought it a pity to have such panorama remain hidden from the world.But Palencia is not a tour promoter ; he's an artist-a painter and sculptor with modern sensibilities who perennially holds shows in some of the leading galleries in manila.
To promote Daet, Palencia thought of holding the First Bagasbas Eco-Arts Festivals, held last April 25-28 in this Southern Luzon surfing mecca.While we usually think of art festivals was cocktails-and-neckties-affairs inside museum and galleries,this event, sponsored by the Our Lady of Lourdes College Foundation ,was purely a beach affair, but without the excess of Boracay.
The idea: take five artist to Daet, let them interact with the rural communities,and, with materials only available in the area, erect installation pieces along the strecth of Bagasbas Beach. The concept behind it is to use an art and culture to promote ecological consciousness.
Six renowned installation artist were brought in-Juan Alfredo Aquilizan, Henri Cainglis,Edille Paras,Hermi Santos,Ronaldo Ruiz, and the australian Tony Twigg. Each one assigned in a barangay with volunteer assistants, who may have pick up a thing or two about art-making along the way.(Note: most of these people were farmers and fisherfolks).
The installation took only a couple of days to complete. As the rule allows only the use of materials sourced from the communities themselves, large strips and bundles of bamboo and other indigenious items were hauled to the beach.Indeed, installation are usually a response to a given space at a given time, the intuitive arrangement of of objects offering a new experience for the viewer. Many of these townsfolks sacrified several days' worth of income from fishing just to work on the pieces. Young painter and installation artist RONALDO RUIZ, in cooperation with Barangay Bagasbas, presented an assembly of ladders entitled "Agumumuc". Tony Twigg with wife Geena stuck bamboo poles into the sand, amd inserted into the groves objects like sardine cans, rhum bottles, and other everyday things---it was called "We are Reminded of Ourselves by What We Leave Behind". Barngay Dagodagotan assisted artist Henri Cainglet in constructings a paper mache boat sailing over slats of bamboo and coconut husks.
MORE THAN five months,ago, Joaquin Palencia was standing on the Bagasbas beachfront, a surfer's haven in Daet, Camarines norte in the Bicol.Palencia has lived in this place all his life,but the realization came like sudden flash of enlightment; this place is absolutely beautiful.
Even before Palencia's realization of his hometown's natural beauty,
Daet has been attracting some following ,already--some of the local surfer' have competed in international competition.Daet's are said to be conducive for elementary -surfers, as they roll only in gentle, relatively manageable mid-size heights.
Lining the periphery of Bagasbas beach are inns, bars, restaurants, and even a surfer-themed pizza house with decent offerings ,. local residents tend to gravitate to the beach in the mornings, when the sun is gentle, or just hang around the breakwater with some snacks during weekends,enjoying the breeze and the view. You can bring your own surfboard or you can bring or rent one.
It is hard to ignore daet's postcard-pretty sunrises,the wide beach with relentless waves rolling in from the pacific. Palencia's thought it a pity to have such panorama remain hidden from the world.But Palencia is not a tour promoter ; he's an artist-a painter and sculptor with modern sensibilities who perennially holds shows in some of the leading galleries in manila.
To promote Daet, Palencia thought of holding the First Bagasbas Eco-Arts Festivals, held last April 25-28 in this Southern Luzon surfing mecca.While we usually think of art festivals was cocktails-and-neckties-affairs inside museum and galleries,this event, sponsored by the Our Lady of Lourdes College Foundation ,was purely a beach affair, but without the excess of Boracay.
The idea: take five artist to Daet, let them interact with the rural communities,and, with materials only available in the area, erect installation pieces along the strecth of Bagasbas Beach. The concept behind it is to use an art and culture to promote ecological consciousness.
Six renowned installation artist were brought in-Juan Alfredo Aquilizan, Henri Cainglis,Edille Paras,Hermi Santos,Ronaldo Ruiz, and the australian Tony Twigg. Each one assigned in a barangay with volunteer assistants, who may have pick up a thing or two about art-making along the way.(Note: most of these people were farmers and fisherfolks).
The installation took only a couple of days to complete. As the rule allows only the use of materials sourced from the communities themselves, large strips and bundles of bamboo and other indigenious items were hauled to the beach.Indeed, installation are usually a response to a given space at a given time, the intuitive arrangement of of objects offering a new experience for the viewer. Many of these townsfolks sacrified several days' worth of income from fishing just to work on the pieces. Young painter and installation artist RONALDO RUIZ, in cooperation with Barangay Bagasbas, presented an assembly of ladders entitled "Agumumuc". Tony Twigg with wife Geena stuck bamboo poles into the sand, amd inserted into the groves objects like sardine cans, rhum bottles, and other everyday things---it was called "We are Reminded of Ourselves by What We Leave Behind". Barngay Dagodagotan assisted artist Henri Cainglet in constructings a paper mache boat sailing over slats of bamboo and coconut husks.
Pampanga-based installation arist Eddille Paras and Barangay Lag-on paid homage to the gods of generosity and sustenance with a bundle fruits contained inside a pyramidic frame. A teepee-like structure laden with palay and other household ornaments was offered by Hermisanto and Barangay Taba Taba. The multi-awarded Alfredo Aquilizan--recipient of the most Outstanding Visual Artist Award in the 2000 International Awards for the Arts---impaled discarded shoes and slippers on a forest of bamboo sticks, making them look like they were makng their way to the sea.
The opening festivties were attended by local residents, artists from Manila and as far as Palawan,and several local government officials. There was mabient hegalong ( an indigenous stringed instrument) music and performance art provided by Palawan's Diokno Pasilan, who painted his entire body ghostly white. Ruiz and company also did some performance themselves, parading aroud the beach grbed in seaweed. Palencia said that the barangay volunteers are now looking forward to applying some of the things they learned working on the installations to the ornaments in next year's fiesta. What ever purpose it may have served, one thing is for sure: the folks in Camarines Norte have never seen anything like this before.
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