I've been conversing with FB friends on the whole national artist awards controversy, and i am not fully comfortable with how the messages are being shaped. i am attending the 'pagluluksa' tomorrow, but i cannot say that i am wholly in agreement with the movement's call. i think there is a need to inquire into the motive behind the act first. what does the president have to gain by doing what she did? i have a strong suspicion that this issue was created precisely to divide us, to expose the biases of the academic elite. and we are leading ourselves right into the cracks.
i don't think it was right, or even necessary, for the film critic Tioseco to say that the number of caparas films and wowowee viewers cannot ever be a barometer of culture. why not? why can't viewership ever be a gauge? maybe not according to established practice, or existing award criteria. but, who has a say on what defines culture, what doesn't? whose culture are we talking about anyway?
there was a very good opportunity to discuss various and varying notions of 'culture' during the ANC show; instead, only one prevailing notion surfaced: high culture.
the message in this campaign should be clear: there were clear, established processes, procedures, and parameters. and the president disregarded them. we protect the system, we uphold the standards; because these are what lend prestige to the award; these ensure that our money, our admiration, our approval for the use of the title 'national artist', go where they rightfully should.
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hey, dar! just wanted to say i agree with you when you say na medyo dodgy ang statementy statement ng mga tao na pupunta sa lamay sa NCCA bukas/mamaya. me invocation at umpugan lang talaga ng notions on art and culture na medyo primitive at dapat ay highly suspect, lalo na ang appearance nina almario dun. me bahid lang kasi ng notion na parang "kami, mas
deserving niyan kesa ikaw" na malabo lang talaga, at pinoint-out mo naman na kung bakit.
dapat talaga linawin rin ng mga tao kung bakit ba tayo nagpoprotesta. malabo ang punto na ang protesta ay kasi hindi deserving sina caparas, et al, kung totoo man yun o hindi, unless willing ang mga nagpoprotesta na ipaliwanag nang masinsinan kung bakit precisely hindi deserving without just flat out saying na kasi panget lang talaga ang mga gawa niya - na valid na rason, pero di yun kumpleto, as reflected na nga nung binanggit ni alexis tungkol sa wowowee - dun mapupunta ang usapan, e, at beyond pa dun, at
ultimately ay magiging high vs low lang talaga, at walang pinupuntahan ang usapang ganun.
sa totoo lang, puwede naman yung theater person na yun na mabigyan ng nat'l artist ewan na yan, pero dubious lang kasi talaga ang paraan at panahon kung kelan at paano nangyari yun. tingin ko dapat magconcentrate sa punto na mali yung proseso, hindi sa mali yung mga tao. to begin with kasi, PR campaign lang naman yan i wouldn't give it the time of day. ang value lang niya para sa'kin so far ay na okasyon siya para mapag-usapan ng mga tao ang "Art" nang walang guilt na nararamdaman.
at ultimately, yun ang of interest dapat sa atin. what ought to be of real interest with this whole scandal is the revelation of how flimsy our ideas about art really are. about what we think art is, and what art isn't. what a positive contrib to culture is, and what's not. and how old timey art snobberies have resurfaced because of this, and how old timey underdog ego came along with it.
the critical cynic in me is just really wryly smiling and pointing out na why be too surprised about this? in an arts and culture scene where we give rica bolipata-santos the first book award, where a "conference" on creative nonfiction is turned into a major PR scheme for a lone local publisher, we really honestly think that this should come as a surprise? we have already debased arts and culture to monopoly and patron politics. this is really just another nail in the coffin.
- adam david!
"this is really just another nail in the coffin."
or, to be more apt, this is just the state of the arts ... naks!!!
- adam david!
"what ought to be of real interest with this whole scandal is the revelation of how flimsy our ideas about art really are. about what we think art is, and what art isn't. what a positive contrib to culture is, and what's not. and how old timey art snobberies have resurfaced because of this, and how old timey underdog ego came along with it... we have already debased arts and culture to monopoly and patron politics. this is really just another nail in the coffin."
right on, adam. i maintain my position: i do not care who gets what, but rather how and for what reasons, with what motives. on the one hand, kakabuwiset na masyadong award conscious mga tao. on the other hand, since these public awards do exist, then they have to be open to questioning.
there will always be someone who's going to be unhappy with the final choice, but if the process is valid, then the result is validated as well and is easier to accept.
I couldn't agree with you more. We shouldn't delve on whether or not the "controversial" artists deserve the accolade or not but rather focus should be on the process, of how an established procedure has been totally disregarded. We cannot all claim to be the final arbiters of art and what is considered as the best of artists, precisely why a selection board exists.
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