Dagupan: City with a heART

by @SiRVis

 

A travel journal that will give you a pleasant view of people, places, food, culture, history and events from a refreshing perspective

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FEBRUARY is both love month and National Arts Month. Dagupan City celebrated it with pride and aplomb! I am not talking about Valentines but the love for the arts! Dagupan City’s heart and soul is it people and the arts.

Dagupan is lucky and proud to have produced two National Artists: Victorio C. Edades and Salvador F. Bernal.

National Artist for Painting and Father of Modern Philippine Painting Victorio C. Edades was born to Hilario and Cecilia Edades on December 23, 1895 in Bolosan, Dagupan City. He was a valedictorian up to the seventh grade at the Dagupan Intermediate School (he was also considered the “apprentice teacher” in art class due to his talent) and graduated with honors at the Pangasinan High School in Lingayen. Just recently, the Dagupan City Council passed an ordinance on Wednesday declaring every 23rd day of December as “Victorio Edades Day” in Dagupan.

National Artist for Theatre Design and Father of Philippine Theater Design Salvador F. Bernal was born on January 7, 1945 in Salisay, Dagupan City. He is the fifth of 10 children of Santiago Bernal, a dentist, and Ubalda Floro, a clothes designer. He finished his early schooling at St Theresa’s College in Baguio and Dagupan City High School. Bernal designed more than 300 productions in theater and film. He used indigenous and locally available materials for stage design. You can visit his tomb in the Bernal family mausoleum in Eternal Gardens, Dagupan City.

In celebration of the National Arts Month, DepEd Dagupan and the Office of Culture and Arts of Dagupan spearheaded different activities like a basic dance sport workshop, mural design competition and a cultural competition dubbed “2017 Say Dayew”. The outputs of the mural design competition will be exhibited in the City Museum. Biskeg Pangasinan Art Collective, a group of young artists from Pangasinan and CSI Dagupan collaborated for a “Love and Arts Fest” which featured an Arts & Craft Exhibit, Art Workshops, Indie Filmfest, Spoken Words and Poetry Open Mic event and a concert by indie artists Johnoy Danao, Bullet Dumas and Ebe Dancel. One of those who conducted a workshop was Dex Soy, a Pangasinense who is an international comic book artist. He is currently with DC Comics. Included in the indie filmfest is Saving Sally, a MMFF movie by Avid Liongoren who hails from Dagupan.

Arts is on the rise in Dagupan City especially in visual arts. If you go around the city, you will see murals and graffiti art by local young artists. You could see graffiti art in the abandoned Pangasinan Dental Association building in Tondaligan near the breakwater “jackstones”, the largest mural in Dagupan at the Panaderia Antonio Parking Lot, and murals at local establishments like the one at the soon to open The Garage Food Hub which was done by graduates of the Dagupan City National High School Special Program For the Arts.

My arts wishlist for Dagupan City: 1. An original painting of Edades, as what we have on display in the City Museum are photo reproductions, 2. Fixing the Edades Dedication Marker in Bolosan, 3. An exhibit of Badong Bernal’s stage designs, 4. A reproduction of the the 1981 “Aliguas Dagupan” mural by Dagupan muralist F.M. Baniqued which was erased when the City Plaza Stage was renovated and repainted. and 5. Continuous art activities for the whole year round.
With the rich art history and the revitalized interest in the arts and activities by the city government, education sector and local art community, Dagupan truly is a city with a heart!

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