Ilog na Lua exhibit showcases Pangasinenses artworks

The sad love story of Matoor and Malamang, based on the Legend of Pantal River, comes to life through 10 artworks currently on exhibit at a mall here, in time for the love month and the arts month celebrations. The Ilog na Lua (River of Tears) exhibit features the visual artworks of 10 female members of the Sarig Mi artists group from Feb. 10 to 16. It recounts the love story of Matoor (faithful) and Malamang (unfaithful) based on the excerpts by Regino Ravanzo Jr. found in the book 'The Story of Dagupan' by Restituto Basa. According to the legend, Matoor remained faithfully in love even in death with Malamang despite the latter falling out of love because of another woman, Malimgas (beautiful). 'Many years later when people had forgotten the story of Matoor, tears welled up from the flower above her grave and fell to the ground. The tears gathered in quantity and crept away along a single line that nosed its way towards the sea. The tears swelled and rose, and one morning the people woke up to find that it had become a river,' an excerpt from the book reads. Pantal River is a portion of the Agno River that cuts across the heart of Dagupan City on its way to the Lingayen Gulf as stated in the excerpt. Margot Bicua said she was captivated by the artwork of artist Kathrina Ragadi, entitled 'Ocean of Sorrow,' which is made from yarn and cotton rope tied on wood. 'I like the actual artwork because it is of a mixture of macramé and crochet. She has different ways of execution and techniques and also the materials used like the types of yarns used,' she said. Pangasinan 4th District Rep. Christopher de Venecia, the brain behind the exhibit and the principal author of the Philippine Creative Industries Law, in an interview on Tuesday, said the exhibit is timely since February is not just the love month, because of Valentine's Day, but is also the arts month based on the program of the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA). 'I thought maybe it could be so interesting on how this legend would be transposed and adapted into artworks by our women artists in Pangasinan. I guess it is very exciting and we have a humble contribution to arts month. People will see not only the talent of women artists but also the literary heritage of Dagupan City,' he said. De Venecia, in his privilege speech at the House of Representatives on Feb. 5, said there are many other recommendations on how to transition the performing arts industry into a vibrant sector of the creative economy. He said this is the reason 'why we look forward to the crafting of a performing arts industry roadmap in compliance with the Creative Industry Law.' 'The National Commission for the Culture and the Arts has begun preliminary work on this through its 2022 program and we have also put the national committees on music, dance, and the dramatic arts on the task of doing sectoral consultations on what is needed in order to pivot the performing arts toward greater productivity, market penetration, and at par with other socioeconomic outcomes t hat are outlined in the creative industry law,' he said. Among the recommendations are the amendment of the Local Government Code to relax existing levies on amusement tax, revisiting the Child Labor Law and taking into account the peculiarity of the theatrical arts industry, pushing for government subsidies to make tickets more affordable to the theatergoing public, the need for more theater and performing arts spaces that can be accessed at affordable rates, the need for capacity-building for performing arts stakeholders, especially those that group together to become performing arts companies, and the content creators in the performing arts also need to learn the value of protecting their intellectual property, as well as syndicating their IP to find other creative expressions. De Venecia said the government needs to support content creators in the performing arts 'by extending promotional support, especially to locally produced shows,' adding that performers must be given better wages, more benefits and more opportunities in the regions to develop nascent theatrical arts industries. Source: Philippines News Agency