BAGUIO CITY – The local government and its private sector partners are now in the midst of the preparations for the second staging of the Baguio City Creative Arts Festival 2019dubbed as ibagiw which is slated on November 16-24, 2019.
The word ‘bagiw’ has been acknowledged as the origin of the word Baguio which is commonly known to have meant ‘moss’ that, according to history, once grew abundantly along the banks of the Bued River, ibagiw,’ therefore, means someone or something that is from or of Baguio, and is the new title of the second staging of the Creative Arts festival that celebrates the city’s creative community.
This year’s edition of the Creative Arts Festival will showcase the city’s vibrant and richly diverse artistic and cultural skyline.
The conduct of the annual Creative Arts Festival is in line with the city’s designation as a Creative City for crafts and folk arts by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network.
Further, the festival also aims to inspire and encourage innovations in crafts and folk arts.
The 9-day festival will transform the former Diplomat Hotel, now named the Heritage Hill and Nature Park, into the city’s primary creative hub with presentations such as ‘Jamming on a G-string,’ a fashion show and concert featuring homegrown designers in collaboration with local musicians, ‘Uring Manlilikha,’ a photography exhibit featuring portraits of some of the city’s foremost artists and artisans, ’Barrel Man 2.0,’ an installation art exhibition, and ‘The Baguio Creative City Market Place,’ a fair showcasing city’s creative ecosystem, including a selection of the city’s famed craft and folk art pieces from the traditional, such as textiles, wood carvings, basketry, and silver craft, to modern creations by contemporary artisans, and other creative professionals that offer various services from event documentation and management to multimedia production.
Other events will be organised in various venues in the city including ‘Post No Bill,’ an exhibit by selected graffiti artists and muralists that will turn the historic Session road into an outdoor art gallery, ‘Natural Sound,’ an acoustic classical and indigenous music concert to be performed in a forest trail, while the city’s famous parks and other open spaces will be the stage for local buskers and local musicians, dancers, poets, and other performing artists.
Spearheaded by the Baguio Arts and Creative Collective, Inc. (BACCI), the festival also hopes to encourage dialogue, collaboration, cooperation and interactivity between artists, artisans and other creative economy stakeholders through the fora and demonstrations scheduled throughout the duration of the activities.
With the theme ‘Made in Baguio,’ ibagiw aspires to bring art and culture closer to the people, instill in them a sense of pride in the city’s rich cultural heritage and inspire a new generation of local artists and artisans.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong assured the city’s creative economy that the local government will fully support the conduct of the activities lined up for the festival considering its enormous contribution to the growth of the city’s tourism industry.
By Dexter A. See