PAG's Art Exhibit: A Celebration of Filipino Genius

Volume 4, Issue No. 66

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of Romar Media Canada, The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail.com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

 

Our latest as of Wednesday, June 28, 2023 

~ The best creative minds the community has yet to fully discover are quietly transforming the image and perceptions of Filipinos in Canada, specifically in the Greater Toronto Area where they thrive almost anonymously. Two dozen artists - painters, sculptors, musicians, and writers - gathered for a celebration of Filipino genius dubbed Annual Art Exhibition by the 35-year-old Philippine Artists Group at the Neilson Park Creative Centre this past weekend. And it was rewarding, to say the least. 

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P.A.G.'s CELEBRATION OF FILIPINO GENIUS

The Gift to the Community by Filipino Artists

Two Dozen Creative Minds Present the Best of Filipinos 

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Creativity is intelligence having fun". - Albert Einstein

TORONTO - Not until I attended the formal opening of the art exhibit by Filipino artists on Saturday, June 24, did I realize I was missing an important component of the Filipino diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area.

I was very much unaware of it before were it not for the invitation by writer Michelle Chermaine Ramos, one of the participating artists in the exhibition organized by the Philippine Artists Group (PAG) of Canada. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8FT2kEZfls).

I'm truly grateful for that invite, or how else would I know that beneath the uninspiring, entertainment-driven festivals we're exposed to every year, there's one outstanding event - and I'd like to call it the festival of creative minds - that captures our heritage and culture, and highlights the best among us.

That alone would change how we as a people, as highly-educated immigrants, and as major supplier of workers in many industries are seen by mainstream Canada. More than muscle, we have the brains - that's a fact our artists have demonstrated.

Whether it's painting, sculpture, or music - those three forms of art were all there in one roof at the Neilson Park Creative Centre in Etobicoke. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kpW15YmWFg).

Being in that event changed my perspective of the Filipino community. For one, we have a treasure trove of talents and creativity which is, and this is my personal belief, hardly publicized or brought to the fore.

For another, the creative genius of Filipinos does not dwell on street or food festivals that many of us are fond of to the neglect of more meaningful and stimulating pursuits that say we are as good if not better than those who view us as second- or third-rate citizens. They're there in the quiet surroundings of art galleries.

Our festivals purport to promote our culture. In reality, culture is a secondary objective. The prospect of reaping huge amount of monies is the only consideration to engaging in such ventures.

That's why we're seeing two organizations fighting bitterly for the right to hold a festival, not for our sake, but for the potential of lining pockets.

The art exhibit has given me pause on keeping an eye on local events as a journalist. For the past 12 years covering street festivals, beauty contests, fundraisings disguised as charities for the poor, etc., it left me wondering and seeking for relevance. 

In hindsight, I should have devoted more time to the arts that enrich my knowledge than to festivals that cater to the egotistical interests of organizers and their patrons.

There were many revelations at the PAG event. I was amazed at the warm fellowship, the welcoming friendliness of everyone, and the coming together for the real cause of promoting the arts by Filipino artists.

The jolly good fellow artist Frank Cruzet is among those in my short list of forever friends. He's endearingly called "general" as a recognition of his long service as a ranking police officer in Makati, the Philippines' financial capital, and my urban hometown. (Frank at: https://philippineartists.com/frank-cruzet/).

When we first met during my first year in Toronto, Frank thought I was an undercover detective or a secret intelligence agent mainly because of how I looked - brawny, tall with long ponytail, and eyeglasses which, to him, are disguises worn by his operatives. That was funny and it gave us a good laugh.

I had not experienced this kind of genuine bonhomie of friends and strangers in a dozen years reporting about and for the Filipino community. 

One particular happening that startled me was the spontaneous performance on the piano by the musically-inclined accountant, Mrs. Cielo Ramos, Michelle Chermaine's mom, who just played and played classical Filipino and contemporary music.

No sooner was she on the third set than every music lover in the hall came over,  - like a moth to a flame - surrounded her and sang their hearts out accompanying her piano rendition. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74OZCliSBEU).

For me, it was the best part of the program that was unprogrammed. Unconstrained amidst a gathering of like-minded people, the piano playing and the singing went on and on until it was closing time.

Not only was Mrs. Ramos alone, her music inescapably filling the auditorium, another pianist emerged from among the guests, a young guy named Ron Adea who rendered Chopin's Nocturne C in Sharp Minor and Franz Schubert's Ave Maria, the latter making me tear up. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpPgC5qlN5g).

I felt very much at home among this bunch of people, some of whom I perceived, wrongly, as political enemies as a result of my investigative reporting. That day, everything was set aside. Camaraderie prevailed.

That event was not something to be passed over. Once a year the community's cloistered treasures surfaced from what seemed like a long stupor and then regaled us with bursts of talents and creativity.

I agree with Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, who said: "The community, the sense of humility, the sharing of stories, the enriching the fabric of community and society with all the richness of Filipino heritage and culture - this is the fundamental of a healthy community".

This is what PAG has given us; it's a gift we ought to treasure forever. (Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved).