“Batad”, an art exhibit about our World Heritage Site, The Banaue Rice Terraces, will open its doors to visitors in Art Galileia in Serendra, BGC on August 29, 2015.
The “Batad” art exhibit offers a glimpse of the tribes living in the village of Batad, Banaue in the Ifugao Province. Since the arrival of the Spaniards to the Philippines, we experienced a slow decline of practice of our own cultural heritage. Now, it could only be found in the provinces. This is where they found their inspiration for the exhibit.
On display on Art Galileia in Serendra BGC, at August 29 to 31, 2015, part of the show’s proceeds will be donated to the residents of Batad, Banaue. The generated funds for this endeavor will benefit the social and medical needs of the local tribes, especially their elderly, who still keep our culture alive.
Hukbo, taking the name from the Filipino word for ‘Army’, is a cluster of artists who wants to help people using their skills in a different and artistic way. The group includes four Multimedia Art students from Asia Pacific College, Paula Roman, Danica Escobar, Trina Laya and Joshua Solis.
“We wanted to find these people and help them spread awareness of their situation” says Paula Roman, leader of Hukbo, “We would be documenting their beliefs, their livelihood, their culture and their lives, where we will showcase to the people in the city and, at the same time, be able raise funds for them to benefit from.”
The exhibit will host an opening reception at 6pm. The event will not require an entrance fee, but they will sell merchandise based on their exhibit. There will also be free snacks, if you come early enough. J
“In the village we visited, we discovered that they were actually having an agricultural crisis. When recent typhoons uprooted their crops, it diminished their income. When they asked for help from the government, they gave locals loans that didn’t help at all. Now they’re seizing the lands from the residents, making them give up and move to Manila. If this continues to happen, we’re going to lose our Banaue Rice Terraces soon.”
The Banaue Rice Terraces are 2,000-year-old terraces that were carved into the mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines by ancestors of the indigenous people. The Rice Terraces are commonly referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”.
For more information about the “Batad” please visit our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/batadexhibit
